Life of Air

Chapter 16

Who We Are

The world around me was cool and comfortable, wind blowing gently and shaking the leaves and flowers all around me. The sky was green above me and it didn't feel as endless, as though if I flew high enough I could touch it. For some reason I knew it would feel like water only thicker. Grass, dirt, and rocks were on the ground under me, it was the most solid thing in this world. Then there was the fire in front of me, large and powerful and flickering with life and an endless array of colors. It was beautiful.

Beyond the fire was a figure. It was hard to make out their features because with each second they would change. In a blink it would go from an old woman to a young boy, from a handsome man to a beautiful young woman. The only constant was the color of their clothes, white. Looking down at myself I noticed I too wore white. It was the same clothes that I always wore but it was like the colors had been drained from the fabrics to reveal only white.

"You're curious where you are, yet you do not feel fear." The figure said, speaking for the first time but with a voice that sounded as though many people spoke at once.

"Should I be afraid?" I asked softly, knowing very well that this was not a place to fear and neither was the figure before me.

The figure laughed many laughs then eyed me. "Now Iyashi, you can't feign ignorance to us hoping for information."

I shifted nervously. "Then tell me why you've brought me here, spirit."

The spirit spread it's arms out wide and smiled with many faces. "This is your home! We welcome you!"

"My home? Have I.. died?"

It laughed again and shook it's head. "Not even close, you are here in mind alone. We have brought you here to tell you what you need to know."

I relaxed slightly and allowed myself to sigh. "Then please, I humbly ask for your guidance." I bowed my head low, laying my palms on the ground in front of me.

"Then listen well and take what knowledge we intend to give." The spirit said, holding it's hands out with it's palms up. "The battle you face before you is not the last you will fight. The true battle comes when this war has physically ended and you are left with the scars on the earth and it's people. As the Life of Air, your duty is to stand by your Avatar and guide his hand to peace."

I rose to look at the spirit in front of me. "Why would Aang need my guidance? And what is the... Life of Air?" I asked, my head tilted in confusion.

"When an Avatar is in need, the life of that Avatar's birth element is created in the heart of a bender who share's their birth element. As your Avatar was born to the Air Nomads, you, Iyashi, are the Life of Air." The spirit touched it's chest. "Just as we have been the Life of our respective elements throughout history, to stand beside our Avatar and guide him whenever his heart wavers."

I shook my head slowly and clutched at my chest, taking in this information. "Why has.. no one talked about this? Aang! Aang would have known..."

The spirit shook it's head. "Your Avatar knows nothing of this until you know, and the Avatars of the past were all sworn to secrecy by their own companion, even if they did try to tell anyone there are ways we have to keep the secret."

I looked up at them, realization and knowledge entering my head all at once. "You erase memories, you did it! I remember!"

"Yes, you remember now because we allow it. You must know what you can do to be able to keep your Avatar safe for what he is meant to face."

"The Fire Lord? How can I protect Aang from him?" I asked.

"No, Iyashi, listen!" The spirit yelled, many voices coming at me so loudly that the voices felt like a force all their own. "You both will face a battle after this, one that involves healing the world instead of fighting a foe. Leave the fighting to your Avatar, you are meant to heal."

"Heal?" I thought for a moment and then the image of Zuko's bleeding arm being healed came to my mind. My heart thumped. "I healed him."

"You did, we did." The spirit said. "Hypnosis and healing are among our physical powers, yes. These you will need to master as we are not always going to be able to be there to preform these actions for you. You must also gain control of your fear or it will swallow you whole."

I nodded, knowing that they must have known of the fear that had been gripping my heart. Fear had never been something that I lingered in until recently and I craved to let it go and face what was to come with my head held high instead of hiding. That of course was easier said than done.

"Is that all?" I asked, trying to look brave in front of these spirits.

The spirit laughed again and I couldn't help but be eased by the sound of their many voices, now understanding that this spirit was a part of me and would do anything to protect me. "You are determined. That will aid you. Take this to heart, never forget who you are and you will find your destined path."

My vision began to fade and the beautiful world around me disappeared slowly into darkness.

"You have to do something for her!"

"Look, I've done all I can, she'll wake up on her own."

"How can you say that? She's just laying there! Some kind of spirit took her away and no one is worried about that?"

"Spirits don't just take people for no reason, Zuko, they'll bring her back when it's time."

The voices around me were familiar and I knew I wasn't in that beautiful world anymore. Slowly I opened my eyes and saw Zuko, Aang, and Katara all standing in my room. Everyone held a worried expression but Zuko was displaying his worry with a tinge of anger.

"Please do not argue for my sake." I said, smiling at the small group as they took note that I had woken up.

"Iyashi.." Zuko said softly, dropping to his knees next to where I lay and taking my hand in both of his. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head and lifted myself up into a sitting position. "No, I feel fine, don't worry." Looking around I noticed that I was now in my room in the beach house and realized that someone must have carried me in here when I blacked out on the beach. As I looking at the worried expression of the firebender before me there was no doubt in my mind he had been the one to carry me here and I couldn't help the warm smile that overtook my features. "Besides, you were there to care for me."

Zuko's face heated slightly at my words and I was grateful to see the anger drain from his features. "Of course I was." We stared at one another for a moment that seemed to last forever but our attention was shifted once Aang spoke.

"Where exactly did you go, Iyashi?" The young Avatar said, his worried expression never leaving.

I looked between the three individuals staring at me, obviously waiting for some kind of explanation. My gaze lingered on the waterbender. There was a pull in my chest that made me know I couldn't just reveal the whole truth of my journey to the spirit realm with everyone here even if I wanted to, but I had to tell them something. Quickly I came up with a plan.

"It's just really fuzzy, that's all." I said, holding my hand to my head. "Katara? Do you mind making me some tea? My throat is a bit dry."

Katara's eyebrow rose but her expression suddenly shifted to one of understanding as she smiled. "Sure." She started to the door and turned to us just before shutting herself out of the room. "I'll let you guys discuss whatever you need to. Come out when you're ready for your tea."

Once she shut the door I smiled and mentally thanked her for her grace and understanding. That left the two boys in front of me, still eyeing me curiously. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and set my feet on the ground but remained seated. Zuko still held my hand in his and I smiled down at him as he never moved from his position on the floor next to my bed, eagerly waiting for my explanation.

"The spirit realm is beautiful, isn't it, Aang?" I said, looking the young the boy.

He nodded, smiling at me. "I knew that you'd be safe."

I tilted my head back and forth, contemplating my words. "Yes well, you're one of the few people who would put that much faith in the spirits. Luckily I wasn't there for punishment or a trick, it was a lesson."

"What lesson?" Zuko asked, bring my attention back to his eager gaze. "Something about those healing abilities and how you made me... forget?"

I nodded. "Yes, but it wasn't really just me making you forget. They were making me forget too."

"Who? What was inside you, Iyashi?" The prince's anger now slowly returning.

"Something that's always been inside of me, apparently, much like for Aang." I looked to said boy and felt relief wash over me, knowing that this young boy who carried the world on his shoulders wasn't truly alone. "We have to keep this from everyone else, it is very important... and if you don't I'll be forced to wipe their memories which I really don't want to do."

"I understand." Aang said with a nod.

"As do I." Zuko spoke only seconds later.

With a breath I mentally reached inside myself for something, anything, that would help me explain what I had experienced and what fate had in store for me now. Without realizing it I had reached out with my other hand and took hold of Aang's hand, pulling him closer towards me as Zuko was. I looked between the two then shut my eyes, focusing hard on they needed to know. Memories of the spirit realm passed through my mind and I felt a cold wind run down my arms, over my hands, and to the boys in front of me. The words the spirits spoke rang out in my mind, like it was happening all over again. Life of Air was repeated over and over again and I felt myself getting almost sick with the memory constantly repeating. With effort, I let out a breath I was holding, opened my eyes, and pulled my hands from Aang and Zuko. I was panting and sweat was dripping down my forehead.

"We were... meant to find you, weren't we?" Aang said slowly as he took in the new information presented to him through my abilities.

I nodded, still catching my breath. "I believe everything... has happened... as it was meant to."

Zuko's gaze left my face and he stared at the ground for a few moments before lifting himself to a standing position. "I understand why Aang needed to know, turns out you two are more connected than just by your heritage." He looked to me then, a serious expression on his face. "But why tell me? Why let those memories... come back to me?"

Standing from my bed I reached out to Zuko's face, stroking his cheek gently and smiling. "That spirit inside me, the spirit of those before me, feels what I do and understands those feelings... better than even I could. I trust you, Zuko, so it must trust you as well."

We stayed like that, staring at one another while I gently stroked his face, and the world seemed to disappear around us. That is until Aang cleared his throat and we were torn away from each other to look at him, the grin on his face knowing. Zuko and I both blushed and stepped away from each other a little, embarrassed that we had lost our heads while the young Avatar had watched.

"Well! Now that that's cleared up, why don't we go get some of the tea Katara is fixing?" Aang said, the grin on his face telling us that this embarrassing moment would remain between the three of us.

I wiped at my brow, suddenly remembering the sweat that had built up there. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. We may not be able to tell everyone about... well, everything, but there are some things I think we need to talk about with everyone."

"What's that?" Aang asked.

I looked to him, my expression tightening. "I didn't know this would happen when I shared my memories with you, but I gained some of your memories as well." I glance between the boys. "Both of you. I think it's some sort of trade. And something in your memories caught my attention, something everyone deserves to hear. Something you and Katara and Sokka discussed."

Aang expression became shameful as he realized what I was referring to. "We intended to tell you, we just needed to be sure."

Zuko looked between the two of us, obviously annoyed at being out of the loop. "What? What are you two talking about?"

My stern gaze moved from Aang to the firebender. "They don't want to fight anymore."

"What!" The fire prince burst out, glaring angrily at the other airbender in the room. "Tell me she's confused!"

Aang shook his head. "She's not but there's no reason to be so angry, Zuko. It's not as though we're just giving up, its more about making sure we all survive to battle another day."

Before Zuko could retort, I spoke. "But there won't be another day. Zuko and I know that and now everyone needs to know, I think."

We all agreed it would be best to talk to everyone about the coming events and left my room to gather everyone in the dining room. Katara had prepared tea and got cups out for everyone when we told her it was going to be the entire group now. Finding everyone was easy once we spotted Toph and Tanro behind the house talking about different techniques. Toph used her bending abilities to find where Sokka and Suki had wandered off to and Tanro went to fetch them at my request. He gave me a bit of a confused looked at first but seemed to understand that this was something important for everyone to discuss and did as I asked. Not much later we were all sitting in the dining room, a cup of tea in front of everyone and curious expressions across the group.

"After some talk with Iyashi, we've come to understand that there are things we haven't been talking about as a group and it's really something we should have all been discussing together from the start." Aang started, flexing his position as the leader of this group of young people. "A while ago I had a conversation with Sokka and Katara and we thought it would be best if we wait to fight the Fire Lord until after Sozin's Comet arrives." Aang's head hung a bit as his gaze dropped down to the cup of tea placed in front of him. "I'm not ready. I need more time to master firebending."

Toph was the first one to speak. "Now that you're talking about it, frankly, your earthbending could use some work too." The young Avatar's shoulders seemed to sink even further at her blunt comment but I knew it wasn't intended to hurt him.

"And due to this discovery that Iyashi made," Zuko started, angrily looking between the teenagers who had made the decision, "she felt it was necessary that I tell you what I told her about the day of Sozin's Comet."

"What else is there to tell?" Sokka asked. He looked down at his tea when he spoke again. "Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Fire Lord now... he's gonna lose. We just want to make sure that we don't go into a blood bath and lose the one person who can end this."

"Sokka's right," Katara said, her expression hard. "We can't just risk Aang's life like that when there is really no point. The only reason to fight before the comet is to make sure that the Fire Nation won't win the war... but they pretty much already did when they took Ba Sing Se. It can't get any worse."

"It can get worse." I said sternly. "And it will if we aren't there to stop it."

"Stop what?" Aang asked.

"My father." Zuko said, his expression dark. He retold the tale of the war meeting and how the Fire Lord intends to burn everything to the ground, sparing no gruesome detail of the wicked plan. The air in the dining room seemed to get thicker as everyone took in the horrifying news.

The hard expression I saw on Katara's face broke and was replaced with dread and despair. "I can't believe he could be so... so..."

"Evil." Tanro finished for her. His hands were balled into fists on the table and his mouth set in a hard line as he glared down at his cup of tea. "I knew. We all knew. The horror stories were passed down the generations. When our ancestors arrived at the Western Air Temple it's not as though they had found it empty like you had, the emptiness was due to the fact that they cleared out all the bodies and cleaned up all the carnage." He then lifted his head and glared at the Avatar. "We waited for you, you can't turn coward on us now."

I stood and looked between the faces of everyone. "No one is going to turn coward. I know that everyone is scared, I'm scared. But I also know that we can all do this together." I rested my gaze on Aang, his expression fearful and unsure. "Please, tell me you trust us to help you prevent another massacre."

After many long seconds, the young Avatar nodded. "I do."

A/N - Hope this explains some things! Let me know what you think :) it really means a lot to me.