A/N: Oh, hey, we're almost at the end! The next chapter will be the final chapter, followed by an epilogue. There will be plenty of Kataang fluffiness next two chapters. And on a personal note, the only thing driving me to update this week was the support and reviews. So, yes, please review, it really keeps me motivated, especially since things are difficult for me right now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender
Clink clank.
The sound of Aang's shoes against the rungs of the metal ladder reverberated as he climbed through the hatch.
Clink clank.
Aang's heart was racing as the adrenaline pumped through his veins. Before he knew it, he was standing on the dry, cracked earth beneath the dark sky. He didn't see Ozai, or anyone else, so he bended a flame in the palm of his hand to see more clearly. After squinting and walking hurriedly, Aang's stomach lurched as he saw a figure with long, black hair running in the distance. As Aang grew closer to the figure, he realized that this man was Ozai. The airbender scowled and raised his feet as he stomped the ground. The earth rumbled as the ground buckled, rock rippling for miles before thwarting Ozai from his feet.
"Arrrghh!" Ozai yelled as he crashed on his back.
With a furrowed brow, Aang sped towards Ozai before the older firebender had a chance to stand up. As Ozai began to push himself off the ground, he felt his body crash against the earth hard by a forceful wind. Ozai opened his eyes to see the Avatar towering over him with white, glowing eyes. The firebender cowered in fear as he saw the young Avatar's arm raise high into the air to deliver the final blow. Ozai thought this was the end, that this is where he will die. He was sure of it.
A few seconds passed and Ozai was still alive and unharmed.
Trepidatiously, Ozai opened his eyes to see the Avatar continuing to stand over him, shoulders slumped in defeat. His eyes returned to their normal grey. Aang spoke calmly yet firmly, "No, I won't take a life."
Ozai's eyebrows raised in confusion as he stood up with a smirk on his face. Ozai yelled as he blasted fire from his hands, "You will always be weak, just like your parents!" What Ozai didn't expect was for Aang to anticipate this move. Aang countered Ozai's fire blast with one of his own, equal in size and force. Minutes passed as the two fire blasts fought against one another. Sweat formed on Aang's brow from the heat of the duo flames. The airbender found extra energy he did not know existed in himself to push against Ozai's flame.
Aang, brow still furrowed, exerted all of his energy to overpower Ozai's flame. The red hot flames from Ozai began to diminish slowly as concern grew on his face. Aang spoke firmly, "Ozai, you've upset the balance of earth and the spirit world. You will listen to me and end this war." Ozai continued to produce his flame from his hand, even though it was weakened by Aang.
"No, my vision for a better world will come to pass. A world where only the superior race, firebenders, live. This is only fair, to put the weaker races out of their misery," Ozai grunted as he struggled to keep up with the strength of Aang's flame.
Aang sighed, growing tired with him, "I gave you the chance to make the right choice, Ozai! Don't forget that!" Aang exhaled, stomping and rising the ground up to encompass Ozai from his feet until his shoulders. With Ozai's hands and feet trapped in the rock encasement, Aang scowled as he placed his right hand on Ozai's forehead and his left hand over Ozai's heart.
The space between and surrounding Aang and Ozai filled with the sounds of thousands of people chanting. The droning voices continued as Aang leaned his head back, expelling a bright, white light from his eyes and his mouth. Ozai's eyes and mouth emanated a red, vibrant light. Aang continued to press his hands onto the older firebender, willing his own chi to protect against the creeping, malignant chi from Ozai. The red started to flow through Aang slowly, until it reached Aang's neck. Aang shook under the force he used to push back from Ozai's energy. Images of Ozai's hatred, anger, and selfish goals floated through Aang's mind before they drifted away. Grunting to keep Ozai's energy at bay, the airbender mustered a push of his own energy. Ozai's chi quickly retreated from Aang, flowing back through Ozai before leaving the firebender's body. Aang and Ozai stayed in this position for a few moments before Aang felt his life force leave his body, knees buckling under exhaustion.
Aang faltered, almost falling over, but pulled himself up to stand tall. He stomped into the ground, releasing Ozai from his rock cage. The firebender raised his hands to burn Aang with fire but no flame came from his hands. Instead, Ozai felt drained and exhausted. "What did you do to me?" Ozai asked in anger as he fell to the ground.
Aang answered, face serious as stone, "I took away your bending, so you can't use it to hurt anyone ever again. You can't upset the balance of the world. You don't value life, so you must pay the ultimate price."
"W..what? How dare you! I-" Ozai spoke before growing extremely tired and passing out as he laid on the ground. Aang's focus was pulled away from Ozai as he heard the excited yells in the distance.
"Aang!"
The voices became familiar as they grew louder. He turned around to see Sokka, Toph, and Katara running towards him before they skidded to a sudden stop upon seeing Ozai alive. Sokka asked nervously, "Aang? Should we be running away right now?" Aang grinned, "No, Sokka, I took away his bending. He's powerless."
Toph's face became excited, "Whoah! I didn't know you could do that. Who taught you that?" Aang gave a crooked smile and answered simply, "A giant lion turtle." Toph and Sokka shook their heads in disbelief. Toph stated, "Wow, you really do have the strangest adventures when you disappear."
Aang's grin faltered a bit as he looked at Katara. She wasn't angry, or even sad, but her expression was difficult to read. He walked over to her, wrapping his arm around her waist. His stormy, grey eyes met her blue eyes for a few moments before he asked, "Are you okay?" She nodded solemnly before answering, "Yeah, I'm glad that you defeated Ozai and you're here right in front of me. But...I still don't know where dad is." Aang's smile completely disappeared when he realized that he was stupid for not thinking about Hakoda. "Oh, right, of course! Well, let me handcuff Ozai and we'll go look for him, alright?" Katara nodded as Aang kissed her on the cheek, lessening her anxious feelings in that moment.
Toph, Sokka, Katara and Aang brought Ozai, handcuffed with rock shackles, to Iroh's car. They were met with Suki, Ty Lee, Zuko, Mai, and Azula. Zuko's eyes widened but remained speechless at the sight of his father alive and subdued. Azula, on the other hand, was not surprised. In fact, Azula was delighted. "How is it that the most powerful firebender in the world was taken down by a teen? Not that I'm complaining," she asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face.
Aang looked at Azula with a serious expression and answered, "I took away his bending." Azula looked terrified for a brief second before returning to her usual cool smirk. "Wow, I didn't know you could do that," Azula stated. Aang explained, not too sure what to make of the slight quiver in Azula's voice, "That time that I disappeared like an hour ago? A giant lion turtle taught me. That's how." Azula didn't have any more questions for Aang right now. She just looked at Aang with a novel expression she had never given him before: a mixture of fear and awe.
Aang broke the silence with his deep, commanding voice, "So, we need to find Hakoda and the others. And, even though Ozai is defeated, we'll still need a few people to stay behind with him while we go look." Zuko and Azula both volunteered to go with Aang, preferring to be as far away from their father as possible. Sokka and Katara joined the firebender siblings, words unspoken. Ty Lee, Suki, and Mai decided to stay behind and watch Ozai while the rest of the gang searched for the others.
Zuko began to ponder out loud as the group walked away from the car, "Aang, I know you said a giant lion turtle showed you how to do it, but I guess I'm still confused. How is that even possible?" Aang held Katara's hand and chuckled at his friend before explaining his trip to the spirit world and his discovery of energy bending. Zuko's mouth was open in surprise during the whole story, while Azula tried to look uninterested at hearing how the kid she made fun of for so long is now, certainly, the most powerful bender in the world. Aang continued to laugh at his friend's surprise until they came to the beginning of the city of Ba Sing Se.
As the group approached the buildings and cars of the city, five tall men appeared as shadowy figures in the night. The streetlight illuminated the faces of the men as they walked towards the gang. In an instant, Aang felt Katara's hand release from his, as she bolted towards the men in the street. "Dad!" she cried in excitement, followed immediately by Sokka. Next to their dad was Iroh, and three of Hakoda's men from the United Forces.
Sokka began to ramble, "Dad! Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened? Where'd you go? Why are you walking like that? Di-" Hakoda cut his son off by putting an arm on Sokka's shoulder, "One thing at a time son. But, yes, I am hurt. Nothing that can keep a Water Tribe man down for long, though!" Hakoda laughed heartily, causing an infectious laugh amongst the teens and the adults. After the laughter died down, Hakoda suggested, "Why don't we talk about it after we all get back to the White Lotus headquarters? We have to take our car back." The teens all nodded in unison as they headed back to near the lake, Iroh amongst them.
Back at the cars, Iroh raised an eyebrow at seeing Ozai but then chuckled after Aang explained how he defeated him. "Oh, my boy, I have never heard of such a thing as energy bending, but if anyone could do it, it would be you. So much raw power and compassion lies inside of you, I don't doubt that you could do the impossible," Iroh said with a warm smile. Aang's cheeks flushed pink for a few seconds before shaking this off.
Sokka opened Suki's car door for Ozai and placed his hand on the top of the fire bender's head, "Now, watch your step. Oops!" Sokka moved Ozai's head slightly, forcing it to collide with the top of the car. Ozai groaned, scrunching his face in pain. Ty Lee and Mai giggled while Suki crossed her arms over her chest, silent and looking at Sokka. Suki narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend, "Sokka! We can make fun of him all we want but don't hurt him. We're better than this." Mai scoffed as she entered the passenger's side of the car, "Suki, we're really not." Suki rolled her eyes before allowing a smirk to cross her face. Just then, she thought about twisting Ozai's arm until it snapped. This made Suki laugh, "Okay, you're right, we're really not."
Suki and Iroh drove their respective cars back to the White Lotus headquarters, where Hakoda and his men had just arrived. After filing into the basement, Ursa and Bumi brought tea and cookies to the group. Sipping and eating commenced for a few minutes before Jeong Jeong came downstairs, asking the question they all wanted to know, "Who attacked you and how did you get away?"
Hakoda cleared his throat before addressing the room, "Very good questions. My men and I were on our usual reconnaissance mission in Ba Sing Se. We decided to stay within the city walls so as to not draw attention to ourselves. We had binoculars and other scouting equipment. The night started off normal enough before all of the sudden, an explosion went off a few feet from our camp. They nearly missed us, but that doesn't mean we weren't left unscathed. The blast rocketed us up into the air, causing us to fall to the ground. My men were left with scrapes and bruises, but I unfortunately landed on a boulder. I'm pretty sure my arm is broken, but luckily I have the best healer in the world right here," he smiled at Katara. Katara blushed as she leaned her head on Aang's shoulder. Hakoda continued, "So, with enough time to fashion a sling for my arm, we set out to search for where the bomb came from. We found foot tracks and followed them to the edge of the city, 3 miles from Lake Laogai. As we crossed over the city line, Zhao and five other men attacked us. We were losing the fight undoubtedly until Iroh showed up. With his fire breathing help, we were able to take all of the men down except Zhao. He was a coward who ran away as soon as Iroh showed up. He wouldn't even fight for his men. We ran towards Zhao but stopped when we saw Aang airbend Zhao away. Seeing as Katara and Aang were heading for the lake, we all decided to find Zhao and keep him subdued."
Hakoda took a long, slurp from his tea, unbothered by the group hanging on to his every word. Sokka grew impatient, "Dad! What happened after? Where's Zhao now?" Hakoda nibbled on a cookie before smirking at his son, "Zhao won't be a problem anymore. The fall seemed to snap his neck. He was lifeless when we arrived."
Ursa and Katara gasped, but no one else made a sound. Aang felt his heart rate rise, but took a few deep breaths before coming back to the present. He couldn't worry about what he did. Aang felt bad, but he couldn't take that guilt on. He used bending for defense, just as the monks taught him. Katara squeezed his hand slightly before whispering so only he could hear, "You know, it wasn't your fault, right? You were defending yourself." Aang nodded and smiled genuinely, "I know, Katara. Thanks for saying that." He ran his fingers through her chocolate brown hair, freeing himself from the guilt that he would've burdened himself with months ago. The war was won and everyone he loved was alive. His eyes shone brightly with tears as he looked around the room. People from all walks of life and different ages coming together to help him save the world. He breathed contentedly in this moment. The real journey, the one he had control over, could finally begin.