Author's Notes: I mentioned this on Reddit, but due to the size of the finale I decided to post only Parts 1 and 2 together instead of all four at once. Next week you will get the end – and it will be a wait no longer than a week because the story is complete at last! I hope you all enjoy it – I've poured my heart and soul into this project and it feels unreal to finally finish it after fifteen years.
Switching up the chapter title formatting for the finale; technically, Book 3 does still have 21 chapters just like the show does… And I remember hearing a while back that the creators once considered making the finale into a movie. So this might be thought of as the equivalent!
The Journey of the Winter Moon
Chapter 1: The Third Guru (Seiryu's Moon, Part 1)
Rust and blood came to mind when Aang saw the sky above, and he hated it. It wasn't beautiful; it was violent. Angry. The world was on fire and he didn't know how far he could go to quench it.
They planned to make a stand outside Ba Sing Se with the White Lotus fighting at their side. Zuko and Katara had already departed to meet Azula where they had learned she planned to make landfall. Aang wanted to do the same with Ozai, but the beginning of his path of immolation was far from any settlements. Nature was to be the only casualty; a necessary one for this plan. Aang had to tell himself that.
The White Lotus marched to retake Ba Sing Se, far below. Aang watched from the top of the Outer Wall as flecks of white and black crossed the farmlands of the Outer Ring. Iroh led that vanguard, conquering the city in the name of the Earth Kingdom rather than the Fire Nation as he had once tried and failed to do. Turning away from them and their mission, Aang focused on his just in time to see a glint of gold and a line of airships on the horizon.
Fire poured from the ships, as thick and constant as liquid. Birds flew by overhead, fleeing from the destruction. Just as Aang prepared to fly out and meet his fate, a blue light streaked by to the south, heading toward the wall. Far enough away from him that he almost missed it; it took him seconds too long to realize that it was Azula.
Something about how she flew right past him, intent on something in the direction of Ba Sing Se, struck him as terribly wrong. Against his better judgment, he pursued.
It felt wrong that she flew faster than him. His glider didn't carry him swiftly enough past the walls, over the farmlands and the empty White Lotus tents. The blue streak far ahead felt like it taunted him. Was he just running away from Ozai? Using Azula as an excuse? What did she want in Ba Sing Se? How did she get by Zuko and Katara? Were they hurt?
This wasn't the plan. Everything was going wrong.
Aang was the first person to find Iroh in the city, shot through the heart with lightning.
"You've painted your face."
"The better to represent the great wolf," said Chit Sang, pressing his fist harder against the icy floor. Hakoda could see the tension in his shoulders. His head was bowed, but even from Hakoda's throne the black sigil was clear. "And… pardon the correction, but it is a tattoo."
The mark of bravery crested Chit Sang's forehead, the sign of a warrior headed into battle. To etch it so permanently on his skin meant that Chit Sang intended to fight to the death. A reassertion, almost a desperate cry, that he was Water Tribe in the face of all who said his blood wasn't theirs.
Hakoda had no need for those claims. The leader of the Wolf's Skulls was handpicked by Hakoda himself. Chit Sang was his man, despite what Gilak or the other men might say, regardless of his blood. It did not matter at all whether he considered himself Water Tribe or not. "You've been having doubts," Hakoda surmised.
"No, my chief, I would never…"
"I am the Speaker," Hakoda said over him. The empty throne room echoed with his words. "And thus I speak the truth. I sense it in your eyes and in your gait and your actions. When others decry you, you bark louder. A pathetic wail for attention when your only action should be to hunt the prey I tell you to hunt. Wolves don't bark."
"I have no doubts," Chit Sang said, kowtowing so deeply that his forehead pressed against the ice. "I am your Skull, through and through."
Hakoda crossed his arms. "Go and clear your head. We have a long few days ahead of us, and I would not have you barking through it. Remember who you are. Remember what this empire has done for you."
Chit Sang looked up at him. Blood dripped from the fresh tattoo after the skin on his forehead broke against the ice, shining in the firelight from the basins of fire on the throne's plinth. "I will never forget."
At the eastern tip of the Howling Canyon, where the gelid winds of the tundra couldn't reach them, the invasion force prepared once more for their ascent. Once they left the canyon, the most dangerous part of their march would begin. Outside of Crab-Spider lands, anyone who witnessed them could be an enemy. If they were spotted before Aniak'to was within their sights, they would be forced to begin the battle prematurely. They still had about a day of hard travel before arriving, but they had to prepare for the fighting to begin at any moment.
Seiryu's Moon was only days away. Aniak'to would be conquered before then, Aang told himself.
Aang found Azula in the morning and they spent as many quiet moments together that they could manage. They trained together and talked. Shared stories of their childhoods they'd never mentioned before. Things they once might have found boring about themselves, but both Aang and Azula devoured everything they learned about each other regardless. Aang confessed to the idea of his own jewelry business once, when he was younger – necklaces and crowns made of flowers, at Sokka's suggestion. Azula told him she once wanted the lead role in Love Amongst the Dragons and it was the most wonderful thing he had ever heard. Their morning was filled with turtle-ducks and baby bison, airball and kuai ball mishaps, ocean kumquats and pickled cabbage, and Aang loved every second of it.
They spoke about everything but the future.
It only came to an end with the return of Toph, Sangmu, and Iroh from Aniak'to, at last. All three descended into the canyon, their spirits light despite the circumstances. Zuko and Sokka turned away from Teo's demonstration of how to use the war balloons when the trio arrived. Momo and Sabi soaring through camp toward Toph and Sangmu alerted Nagi and even Katara, who made their way over.
"You're all okay!" Aang exclaimed, beaming, once he stopped in front of them.
"About time you made it back," said Azula, crossing her arms, but she couldn't hide her relief.
"Yup, everything's fine," Toph said, as Momo perched on her head and the others gathered around them. She pointed through Zuko straight at Katara, who arrived on her sled. "But what's she doing here?"
Katara stretched her legs, rotating her ankles as part of her recovery. "You missed a few things. We're all friends now," she said, but with a taunting lilt.
Toph paused, but huffed. "So going to the city was a waste of time, huh?"
Iroh peered curiously at Katara but rubbed his belly. "I wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time! It was a wonderful journey, all things considered, and the city has a beauty all its own. I would say the three of us learned quite a lot about each other, and I am honored to count both Toph and Sangmu among my dear friends now."
Sangmu squeezed Sabi and smiled up at him. "Me too. I had a lot of fun."
"Whisperwind might even be lighter on her feet than you are," Toph said to Aang. "And she can take a joke better than you, too."
"Whisperwind?" Sokka asked, his face scrunched.
Sangmu proudly put her hands on her hips. "That's me! I like the nickname!"
"I've never met anyone who really liked the names Toph gives," Aang said, as Toph punched her in the arm. And to his immense surprise, Sangmu punched her right back, and it looked like it even hurt a little. Both of them laughed with each other as the lemurs flew away from their suddenly rambunctious perches in irritation.
Nagi rolled her eyes at their antics, but giggled into her fist. "Well, did you learn anything that could help us?"
"Well, we did learn that Katara was taken to Crab-Spider lands," said Toph. "Old news, I guess."
"More importantly, Hakoda's forces are preparing for their invasion," said Iroh, his tone grave. "It was difficult to learn any significant intelligence, but his warriors are mobilizing. Supplies and men are leaving the city for the north. I'll have to go discuss the details with the rest of our allies." With that, he excused himself, making his way over to the scattering of tents hidden in the canyon walls.
Sangmu looked at Aang after he departed and joined the tips of her fingers together. She looked almost hesitant, even nervous, but she shook her head and smiled. "Aang, while I was there… something unbelievable happened. We found a bakery in the city. And I had a raspberry pie that tasted exactly like Monk Gyatso's used to."
Aang gaped, but it was Zuko who spoke first. "Monk Gyatso?" he asked, looking at Aang. "Isn't that…?"
Aang shook his head. Even thinking about it, he could taste the airy tartness on his tongue. It had been so long, but nothing brought him back to his childhood more than Gyatso's fruit pies. "That was Gyatso's own recipe. There's no way that's possible."
Sangmu pressed her palm into his, imploring Aang. "I've had plenty of Gyatso's pies back in those days. Back when he visited us both at the Western Air Temple, and even when he and I fled to the Chuje Islands. They're unmistakable."
He took a step closer to her. "But how?"
"The baker said he learned the recipe from an old guru who lives alone, near the western mountains," she explained. "Aang, do you think it's possible…?"
He didn't dare to get his hopes up. If Gyatso had survived, that would change everything. But he had been old to begin with, and it had been a hundred years. Then again, Guru Pathik knew the Air Nomads personally. But he couldn't leave when the battle loomed. He shook his head, and was about to speak when Azula spoke over him.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked. "Let's go find this guru. Sangmu, you'll come with us, I trust?"
Aang looked at her with his eyes wide. "But that's a distraction we don't have time for."
"It's something important to you. We'll make it quick," she said. She looked at their companions as if daring any of them to challenge her assertion. Gratitude for her swelled up in his chest.
Sokka sighed but apparently thought better of arguing with her. "Fine. Do what you need to. We don't need you yet, anyway – you just need to be back before the invasion starts, okay?"
Aang nodded and looked around at all of his assembled companions. His other self jittered with nervousness, but Aang himself felt only the desire to see them through the battle safely. "I know. I won't fail this time."
"You're not alone," Zuko said, spreading his arms wide. "Look at all of us. We're here – this isn't all on you, and it never was. If you fail, we fail together, just like we've always done. But this time, we won't." When he spoke, Aang thought he heard the other Zuko in his words, and had to blink away the sting of tears.
"You've done things I never would have imagined," Sokka said. "And believe me, I can imagine a lot. I never thought I'd be here. But I'm happy I am."
Aang grinned at him and put his arms around Azula and Sangmu's shoulders, on either side of him, and pulled them all in close. Toph and Zuko joined the circle first, and then Nagi and Sokka.
"Uh, what're we doing?" Azula asked, tensing up beside him. Momo and Sabi soared into the circle of warmth, and Appa lumbered up to them as well.
"A group hug," Aang replied, laughing. "C'mon. It's a shame Ty Lee can't be here, I bet she'd love this."
Azula relaxed into it once they all came in close. "She would," she said. "They're all still fighting on the other side of the world, I bet."
"So we've got to fight for them, too," said Toph.
Nagi was the one who looked at Katara, lingering outside of their circle. "What about you, Katara? Do you have anything you'd like to say?"
Katara scoffed. "No. And don't even think about asking me to join your little friendship circle. I just want to know how you plan on killing my dad, Avatar. Your technique has to be unstoppable."
Aang felt like he'd been yanked back into the snow and let his arms fall. Finally, they raised the question sitting at the back of his mind. Just as it did back in his world, with Ozai. "I'm hoping it won't come to that."
Katara leaned forward in anger, clenching the sides of her sled. "What do you mean? You have to. That's the whole reason why I'm on your side!"
Aang furrowed his brow and looked at his friends for support. Azula and Zuko seemed concerned. Toph crossed her arms. Sangmu looked afraid, and Nagi looked away. Sokka looked about as tense as his sister.
"I haven't decided yet," Aang said finally. He had thought he made his decision. He thought he would be ready to do whatever it took to save this world, and if that meant killing someone, then he had to. Even if it was Hakoda. But he didn't know what made him waver to indecision. "If there's another way, I'll take it. But whatever happens, I won't let him flood the Earth Kingdom."
Katara scoffed again. "The Earth Kingdom? What makes you think he wants to flood the Earth Kingdom?"
"Why wouldn't he?" Aang asked. "They're his greatest enemy. His biggest obstacle." But as he spoke, he realized he had only been making an assumption just because Ozai wanted to burn the Earth Kingdom to ashes, and a sickly feeling coiled in his stomach.
"As great as Seiryu's Moon is, it won't be enough to flood the entire Earth Kingdom," she said, as if lecturing a child. "He'd only be able to assault the coasts. Maybe the lowlands or the Serpent's Pass. But most of those places are already under Water Nation control. No, in my short time back at home I learned he has a different target: the Fire Nation."
Zuko reacted first. He clenched his fists and almost lunged toward her. "What? Why?"
"Why not? It's an island nation. It'd be easy."
Zuko narrowed his eyes. "I mean, why didn't you tell us this?"
"At this point, does it really even change anything?" Katara asked him, scowling. "It doesn't matter who his target is when your invasion force is practically on his doorstep." She looked up at them all as if annoyed. No one said anything back to her as she turned her sled around and set off toward camp. "Well, if you're all done with your little hug, I'm off for another healing session. Avatar, if you need some tips for how to kill someone, you know where to find me."
"What do we do now?" Nagi asked, in the awkwardness after her departure.
"Katara's right," Azula said, frowning. "As horrible as it is, it doesn't change anything. We have to defeat him before Seiryu's Moon comes and he leaves for the Fire Nation." She glared off at Katara's back. "I suppose Hakoda didn't truly consider me part of his trusted circle. He probably didn't want me to know he intended to wipe out my homeland."
Sokka looked at Aang, Azula, and Sangmu. "I know you just got back, Sangmu, but if you guys are going to go find that guru, you have to do it now."
Even with the Nightseer gone, the chill of darkness and conflict lingered.
Haru did what he could to help the wounded, but most of Arnook's men kept their distance. All of the northern warriors seemed shaken by the recent events, even listless and confused, like they'd been lost at sea during the night and only just washed up on shore. Many of them had fallen to darkness, and Haru was the one who went to each man one by one to spiritbend them back to normal. It was exhausting; even with the Nightseer gone, her darkness didn't always manifest through violence.
He knelt in front of one of Arnook's acolytes, a man in the throes of a waking nightmare, and once again he did what Yue said and called forth the light from inside of him to share it with this stranger. Haru didn't know the specifics of how he was able to do it, but he found that happy memories worked best. Once the emerald glow died down and the acolyte looked at him with clarity, the fog in his mind dispersed, Haru stepped away and moved onto the next one.
To their surprise, most of the men – Hahn included – listened to Yue when she spoke calming words and rallied them to look after the wounded. After Haru finished spiritbending the acolyte, he found her near Arnook's prayer mound, standing at the entrance and just watching it. The white birch staff lay on the ground at her feet, the stretched drum at the top of it slashed by Mai's knife.
He approached her hesitantly. "Are you doing okay?"
She straightened her shoulders before turning to face him. "I think so," she said. "The moon spirit granted me life again before I could fade away forever. I am fortunate that Tui watched over me."
"Tui looked just like you," he said. "She appeared before us in a beautiful white dress." Neither of them knew what to make of that – or if she did, Yue didn't say – so Haru shook his head and fumbled out his words. "What I meant was… you know, with your dad and all. I just want you to know that we're all here for you."
She smiled at him. "Thank you. I've been shown so much kindness, I'm not sure if I can ever repay it." She looked back at the prayer mound. "My father is gone. I'll mourn him, even if I'm supposed to hate him. He is forever bound to the Nightseer now, and for that I pity him, but when I think of the man he used to be I can't bring myself to truly hate him."
"You can still love the person he used to be," Haru said. "And mourn him. He may have started with good intentions, but he just lost sight of them. Lost sight of you."
"He loved us," Yue said, her eyes falling to the staff at her feet. "Myself, my mother, and our city. He said he wanted to bring my mother back so we could all be together again. Even if it took a world of eternal night, I don't think it was simply power that was at the core of his motivations. I think you're right, Haru. Thank you."
He scratched the back of his head. "No need to thank me."
Yue bent to pick up the staff from the ground and held it gingerly in her hands. She looked over it as if weighing it, and then something set in her face and she pressed the base of it against the ground, wielding it in a way that made her look authoritative. The ruined top was hollow, its connection to the Nightseer broken. "Hahn," she said, calling over the First Spear. "Please send word to Agna Qel'a. The Nightseer may be gone from Aurora Gompa, but as the spirit of night she cannot be truly defeated. I wish to have her effigies throughout the city destroyed. Her influence over our people cannot be suffered any longer."
Hahn knelt with his fist pressed to the ground, surprising Yue and Haru. "Yes, Princess Yue. Er, High Chief Yue. Queen-Chief Yue?"
Yue blinked in surprise. "Hahn, you forget that other chiefs would need to elect a new high chief, and I have never pursued that position..." She glanced at Haru, her brow furrowed in confusion. "And what's a Queen-Chief?" Haru could only shrug in response.
"Uh, right!" Hahn said, and he hurried away to complete her request.
After Yue left to attend to other things, Haru thought she really did have less of a weight on her shoulders, especially when Suki joined her. Haru went back to his own duties, but he wasn't sure if he could summon the energy to renew himself so easily.
"So the soldier becomes a healer," said Ghashiun, who leaned against the courtyard wall with his arms crossed. Haru didn't realize he had been standing there in the shadows when he passed to find the next person who needed help. "By the way, I'm not just lurking here to be mysterious and dramatic. I've been busy clearing out some of the rubble and needed a break."
Haru bit his lip to keep from laughing. "It sure looked like it," he said. "And I wouldn't really say I'm a healer. Or even a very spiritual person. I can't do a thing about their wounds."
"But you can earth-spiritbend," Ghashiun said, kicking off of the wall to walk toward him. "You purified yourself of the darkness. That's got to count for something."
Haru shook his head. "I found an inner light, I guess. I felt the doubt and despair closing in on me, the anger and the helplessness… but then I remembered that before I went to Chameleon Bay to join Mai and the others coming north, my dad and I saved my mother from the Water Navy. I remembered how much we've fought since coming here to the North Pole, all we've accomplished together."
"So you overcame your self-doubt, or something?"
"And I heard your voice," Haru added, but as soon as he said it, he felt his cheeks redden.
Ghashiun tilted his head. "Did you, now?" He smirked. "Are you sure you didn't just hear Jet's crowing?"
Haru shook his head again, faster this time. "Oh, no. I didn't. But how did you resist the Nightseer in the first place? You didn't even get corrupted at all!"
He heard Jet come up behind him, slinging an arm around Haru's shoulder. "Someone say my name?"
"We were just talking about how we fought off the Nightseer's influence," Ghashiun said, crossing his arms.
"Oh," said Jet. "Well, like I mentioned. I guess it's because I found my retribution. I kept seeing a light spirit when I was searching for that captain," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought it was guiding me to him. Almost kind of feeding off of what I was feeling. I don't know how to describe it. So… I don't know. Maybe I just know the light better."
"Surprisingly introspective," Ghashiun noted.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
Haru laughed into his fist. "What about you, Ghashiun?"
He waved a hand, swatting away the question dismissively. "No idea," he said. "Guess I don't know myself like Jet does. Why don't you help me figure it out sometime, Haru?"
Haru's laughter turned into a choke and he felt his face heat up again. "Sure thing."
With Sangmu at Appa's head working with Aang in the saddle to hold cloud cover for Appa, they flew across the western expanse toward the guru's home. Aang shivered with anticipation more than cold; whether or not they truly were Gyatso, he wondered what final secrets they would share with him. Both Shēn and Pathik seemed to have preternatural knowledge to help him on his journey – how much did he still have to learn? What further bad news could he handle?
Sabi shuffled inside Aang's parka and the tickling as she adjusted for warmth made him laugh to himself. Maybe if it was Gyatso he'd have a third lemur to give.
Azula didn't notice; she only stared into the hazy shield revolving around them, sitting with her hands on her knees and her ankles crossed. Aang found himself watching her until she caught his gaze and smiled, but it faded quickly. Something had her unsettled and he could only make a guess as to who.
"The Fire Lord?" he asked, frowning.
"She's getting riled up again," Azula answered. "She knows what's coming."
"It's almost over," he said, moving to her side. Momo had gotten over his skittishness around Azula, apparently due to her warmth; he huddled up against the firebender and yawned when Aang scooted next to her.
"I know," she said. She looked away again. "Part of me wishes it wasn't, though. Losing her also means losing you."
He reached for her hand, his heart heavy. "I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing," she said, almost too quickly. She squeezed his hand. "It was just a moment of weakness. Even I'm allowed those every once in a while."
Aang wasn't sure if he would be able to resist if Azula outright asked him to stay. But he knew she never would. He had a feeling she knew that, too.
"I was thinking about what you said earlier," she said. "About how you haven't decided on what to do about Hakoda. How long has it been on your mind?"
He blew air from his mouth and waved his arms, keeping the clouds cycling around them with Sangmu's movements. "Not really that long. I've barely been thinking about how it would all end. It always seemed like something so far away, and I thought I'd made my decision to do it. But now that it's here… now that we're about to fight, and everyone wants me to kill him… I don't think I can. Not because I'm afraid to, but because I don't want to. I want to find another way." He looked at Sangmu on Appa's head as he said it, watching her dance to music they couldn't hear while she bent the clouds with him. His arms swayed with her motions. How ironic that she represented the reason he had to kill Hakoda and the reason he could not kill Hakoda at the same time.
"If it was me, I'd want to kill him," Azula said, with surprising venom. "I already tried once. But this time, it would be for me. He's going after my home." Her voice softened. "But you're not me. Whatever you do, make sure you don't regret it and I'll support your decision. And don't let us regret it, either."
Appa veered out of the way of a dark and light spirit crashing from the clouds, battling with each other high in the sky. All three of them braced themselves as the keening of wounded spirits echoed across the full breadth of the fractured, celestial sphere. Aang and Sangmu wove the clouds around them again, repairing the gash from the warring spirits – an inevitability this high in the sky, but that was the closest call yet. "Don't worry," he said, trying to sound encouraging. "No matter what, I won't let him take your home."
Ty Lee didn't feel she was much help outside with the wounded and befuddled warriors, so she made her way indoors for some shelter from the freezing wind. After all this time in the North Pole, she still had trouble shaking the cold.
It was hard to believe their battle was over. Despite everything, she couldn't help but feel she barely made a difference. Why did Iroh feel it was her destiny to join them on this journey? What grand plan did the universe have for her? Sure, she helped in the fighting. She befriended Yue, Suki, and Ghashiun too, she supposed. But that was hardly Ty Lee's doing; Yue just oozed enough kindness to bring them all together despite being on different sides. She was an easy person to like, a princess people looked up to.
She managed to find a wide, shallow bowl in the food storage chambers of the monastery. The ceramic had cracked with age, but grainy streaks of blue and gray paint helped it retain its beauty, and she wiped the dust from it with her sleeve before filling it with a handful of foodstuffs. Some salted meats made their way onto the pile, but she managed to find dried papaya, a scattering of sea prunes, and even fresh cloudberries. Hoping no one would mind, she snuck back out into the dark halls of Aurora Gompa to search out one particular chamber.
Ty Lee shivered as she traversed the hall. Even with the Nightseer gone, the empty halls still felt spooky. She quickly found the door she needed and scampered through it, sighing with relief once she entered the prayer chamber.
"Here you go, Noota," she said, placing the bowl on the floor in front of the statue. Tall and fat, the stonemason managed to capture the yeti spirit's likeness surprisingly well. He seemed as sturdy as his iceberg and just as jovial as he was in person. "Just like we promised. Thanks for the help earlier – you really do have a lovely iceberg."
She sat down in front of him for a moment, rubbing her chin. She wondered if her offering might be lacking something, but grinned when the idea came to her and reached into the sleeves of her parka. She pulled out a pair of silk scarves, the same ones they used to escape from Aurora Gompa, and tied them together. Both scarves were needed so she had enough length to tie them around Noota's giant stony wrist, and once she finished securing them she stepped back to admire how they looked on him. "There," she said. "What a nice bracelet you have now. One's pink, because it's my favorite. And the other is green, because there's barely any of that this far north and you can use a splash of color. I think it suits you! Or, well, it suits your statue!"
"Thank you, Ty Lee!" his voice boomed through the tiny chamber, startling her. But once she recognized it as his, she calmed herself and beamed up at his sculpted visage.
The door opened behind her and she saw Suki in full gear and makeup. "Here you are!" she said. "We need to go. Something's wrong with the portal and the others think we should go check it out." She peered at the statue, her mouth twisted in thought. "And some of those goose spirits appeared again to take us down into the valley. That's not a coincidence, is it?"
Ty Lee shot to her feet but spared one last word of gratitude for Noota's statue. Maybe the universe wasn't done with them yet.
This guru didn't live in the ruins of a forgotten temple like the others. They didn't make their home in a cave or high in the mountains. They didn't live in complete isolation, either – they had a hut far on the outskirts of a sleepy village, far enough away that Aang felt comfortable landing Appa nearby. But Aang, Azula, and Sangmu still kept up their guard.
The hut had walls made of irregular stacked bricks, insulated with snow packed hard on the outside, its roof thatched with sod and straw and a smokestack that indicated the guru was home with a roaring fire going. As they approached, Aang exchanged a glance with Sangmu and he realized he probably looked as tense with anticipation as she did. Aang was the one who reached the door first and knocked on it, wondering if, against all odds, it would be Gyatso who would greet them.
It felt like an eternity before the door opened. What would he say? What would Aang do? In my world, Kyoshi lived to be over two hundred…
An old woman opened the door. A blast of heat roared from the mud-brick oven behind her, the smell of tantalizing sweetbreads wafting to their noses. This had to be the right place.
"We're looking for the guru," Aang said, his chest pumping. "Is there… someone named Gyatso here, by any chance?"
"The guru?" The old woman peered at them with heavy-lidded eyes. She was very short and quite wide, with white furs wrapped around her shoulders covering so much that it almost appeared that she didn't have a neck. Her parka went all the way down to the floor. She had gray hair wrapped in two thick braids on the sides of her head, covered by an enormous wide-brimmed hat that had a brown-speckled animal pelt draped over it, with seashells dangling all around the brim. She gave them a warm smile that reached her eyes. "Well, hurry on in, you three. You're letting out all the heat."
They filed inside of her hut, which felt cramped even with her scant belongings and the four of them. The oven took up nearly a quarter of the available space, with a mound of furs she presumably slept on and a wooden table covered with fine white flour and her baking implements. The seashells on her headgear clacked together as she welcomed all three of her guests to sit on floor cushions. Aang's eyes wandered back to the oven – that style of mud-brick was a staple of the bakery in the Southern Air Temple and just looking at it and smelling it made him homesick.
"Something smells delicious," Sangmu commented, looking around the hut. "Are you the one who sells fruit pies to people in Aniak'to?"
"No," she said, shaking her head and going back to kneading dough. Aang sat up straighter – did that mean Gyatso just wasn't home? "But I do share the recipe with any who seek my knowledge. It was taught to me by Gyatso, many years ago. His name is one I haven't heard in a long time. If you know it, does that make one of you girls Sangmu? And you're Avatar Aang?"
Aang nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Is Gyatso still… alive?"
The woman turned to him, her eyes sympathetic, and he knew the answer before she said it. "No, my dear, I am sad to say that he passed almost fifty years ago now."
"Fifty years…" Azula sounded awed. "So he survived the genocide after all." Aang and Sangmu had both been rendered speechless.
He might have been wrong to hope, but hearing that, he mourned his mentor all over again. What would have changed if he had emerged from the volcano earlier? Would they have reunited?
Would that have been you who met him, or me? His thoughts overlapped so much with the other Aang that he didn't know which of them it belonged to. The sadness of his other self resonated with his own.
"I am Guru Tootega," the old woman said. "And Gyatso taught me many things before he died peacefully. He was loved here by this village, even though he kept his identity secret from everyone but me." She chuckled to herself. "The fruit pie recipe, though, he only shared on his deathbed. The old coot. He wanted me to spread it far and wide only after he was gone, a hidden symbol of his people continuing to live on. I always suspected he just didn't want to do the work, his last prank. Even so, he always held onto the hope of reuniting with the two of you again. He spoke highly of both of you, young airbenders."
Sangmu stood and joined Tootega's side. "It is an honor to meet such a learned spiritual teacher," she said. "I'd be delighted to help you bake, if you'd let me. Fruit pies need some airbending, don't they?"
Tootega smiled at her. "In the original recipe, yes. Gyatso modified it for me, but I would love to taste one again as they were meant to be made."
"What do you gurus know about me?" Aang asked, hoping it didn't come across as rude. "Shēn and Pathik knew who I was before they even met me. Who are you? Are you connected to the White Lotus?"
"Do you think being a guru is a formal title, or an organized institution?" Tootega asked him. "We are nothing of the sort – I've only met those two men once each, long ago. All I know of you is what Gyatso told me, but I suspect some things based on the current state of the Spirit World." She portioned out the dough on a wooden tray; the next batch to go into the oven. Sangmu checked on the batch currently baking. "Some gurus are hermits, some aren't. We study the ways of the world, especially as it was before the four nations or even bending or the birth of the first Avatar."
"Wan," Aang said, as Sangmu took the first batch out of the oven.
"Or we can just ask you the details of facts lost to history, I suppose," Tootega said. "Wan, you say so flippantly… Well, as for the White Lotus, as much as Gyatso tried to teach me to play Pai Sho I never had any talent for the game. So no, I have no connection to them."
"Wait. Is skill with Pai Sho really a prerequisite for joining?" Azula asked, dubious. All three of them shrugged at her in response.
"Does that answer all your questions?" Tootega asked. "Poor dears. This war has gone on long enough, made you so defensive and skeptical. I can see the pull of the Spirit World all over you, even as it encroaches on the rest of us. So now, Avatar Aang, it is my turn for a question. Do you belong in this world?"
Do I belong? He wondered that himself. "I'm not originally from this world. Both Shēn and Pathik sensed that about me, too. And don't worry, we intend to end this war very soon. What wisdom do you have for me?"
Tootega doled out the plum mixture to the cake base of each pie. "Don't go to the South Pole if you want fresh plums," she said, as Sangmu held back a laugh and used her airbending to whip the pie into its distinctive spiral shape. "But if you truly wish to go home to your world, seek out the last lion-turtle."
"The last lion-turtle?" Aang asked, staring down at his crossed legs. He didn't even know there were any left. "But Pathik told me going home would be as simple as walking through a veil."
"Not anymore," she said. "Now it would be akin to finding a port in a storm with no lighthouse to guide the way. With how chaotic everything is now, you may end up in one of countless other worlds. You need the lion-turtle's help to guide you."
"And how do we find it?" Azula asked, surprising Aang by beating him to it.
"You tell me," said Tootega. "What do you know of lion-turtles?"
"They are the perfect union of light and darkness," Aang said, recalling the memory of Shēn's explanation. "Created when Raava and Vaatu were still one, before spirits and humanity."
"Raava and Vaatu?" Tootega asked, looking back at him and blinking in surprise. "So those are their names? Ohh, I will have to write that down later. But yes, that is correct. And in this swirling storm of spiritual energy, the lion-turtle will go to where light and darkness are in balance. A place of duality, of two-in-one, a border and a bridge. In the ancient world, lion-turtles would seek out those who needed their aid in the most desperate of times, only finding those with absolute will worthy of their wisdom."
Aang had been desperate on plenty of occasions. Was his own will not strong enough for it to show itself to him?
"Really?" Azula asked, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry, but we do not have time for riddles. All the worlds are on the verge of ending and we need to defeat the emperor."
"Is it really possible?" Aang asked, putting a gentle hand on Azula's shoulder. "Possible for light and darkness to truly be in balance? Good and evil, in a 'perfect' being like the lion-turtle?"
"Come now, Aang," said Tootega, angling her head toward him so that the seashells clattered. "Can you really claim that one is wholly good or one is wholly evil? Even in times of war, technology flourishes. Technology that can harm others, yes, but much more that leads to the betterment of humanity. I'm old enough to have seen plenty of that myself. Even song, dance, and art are part of his domain. Destruction is only a form of change, and with time all things come to an end."
"Darkness is creativity," Aang said, thinking back to his encounter with the Mother of Faces and her son, Koh – who lacked any darkness whatsoever. The Mother of Faces had gifted that to humanity. "Light is stability." And Wan Shi Tong, He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things, going dark with the mad intent to end it all, lashing out in pain for the knowledge he fought to preserve and protect.
"Among many other things," said Tootega. "But not good or evil."
"We've fought spirits at both extremes," Aang continued. "And people, too. I don't know what balance really means, how it's shown throughout the world, or how the meaning of it can change through the ages. So how am I supposed to find this place?"
"All of the wisest people of every age have debated that exact topic," she answered. "And you are no closer to finding the answer than we are. And that is okay."
When the fruit pies finally cooled, Sangmu and Tootega served them. Aang didn't realize how hungry he was until it was right in front of him and he couldn't stop himself from biting into it with voracious aplomb. The purple pies were always his favorite, and the warmth that filled him when he ate almost felt like Gyatso was right there with them. "These are amazing, Guru Tootega," Aang said, grinning from ear to ear. Much better than the onion-banana juice that the last guru gave him. "Thank you."
They allowed themselves to enjoy the moment for as long as they dared before Azula finished her serving and glanced at Aang, almost apologetic. "We have to go," she said. "There's so little time left. We'll find that lion-turtle and it'll guide you home after you defeat the emperor, and no sooner."
"And maybe it can fix the world," Sangmu suggested. "Put the Spirit World back where it's supposed to be. Make things normal so that you can fight with everything you have."
Aang licked his fingers clean, savoring every last second. "There's one last thing I'd like to ask before we go," he said. "Tootega, how do you think Gyatso would suggest I defeat Emperor Hakoda? Do you think it's possible to do without ending his life? Which is the right answer for the world?"
"Gyatso was an Air Nomad, like you are," she said. "He would say that all life is precious. The right answer for you is the right answer for the world."
"That sounds like something an emperor would say," Aang said, frowning. "A tyrant who thinks his answer is the right one."
Tootega shrugged. "Light and dark, two sides of the same coin. A border and a bridge."
"So you're saying Aang's just like Hakoda?" Sangmu asked, making a face as if her fruit pie had soured.
"He has the potential to be, based on the choices he makes," said Tootega. "Being the Avatar doesn't disqualify you from committing evil acts just because you have the spirit of light within you. Having the spirits on your side means nothing in the grand scheme of things – even Emperor Aniak, one hundred years ago, made a pact with the great spirit Seiryu to learn the secrets of the mortality of spirits."
Aang's eyes widened. "So that's how he knew how to kill Suza, the spirit of the comet."
"That answer brings us no closer to what Aang should do," said Azula. She appeared to be growing impatient, tapping her fingers against her knee.
"Have you sought the wisdom of your past lives?" Tootega asked. "As they did before you?"
Aang heard whispers in the snow outside. Whispers in the earth below them. Whispers in the fire from the oven and in the breeze.
"Be active. Don't make the same mistakes I did." How could he actively shape his own destiny, and those around him?
"Only justice will bring peace." Did justice have to mean death? What did Hakoda deserve?
"Be decisive." Don't flounder. Whatever choice he made, he had to stick to it.
"Do whatever it takes to protect the world." If that meant turning against his values, so be it. But he would fight tooth and nail for the freedom of choice.
And finally, his other self. What about Sangmu? Would Sangmu approve of him ending a life to save hers? If he didn't uphold the values of their people, could he expect her to do the same?
"I made a pledge to the spirit of winter," Aang said, trying not to look at Sangmu. "A pact, just like Aniak did with Seiryu. And for that I need to end his life." Two sides of the same coin.
"It is unwise to back out on a deal with a spirit, especially a powerful one like Sedna," said Tootega. "But a betrayal of the self is even worse. If it goes against your values, your self, everything you hold dear… then Gyatso would tell you that adhering only to your duties at the expense of your Self will leave you broken."
"Is that how he felt, in the end?" Sangmu asked, her voice small. "Broken?"
"In this village, he found a new home," said Tootega, giving her a sympathetic smile. "He believed in peace, even here, and though he had to hide his past he continued to live with love in his heart, and hope that you two survived to carry on the legacy of your people. So no, he was not broken. His heart was sad, but it was full."
Aang remembered, all those years ago, when he had discovered Gyatso's remains at the top of the mountain, surrounded by his enemies. He couldn't say for sure which ending Gyatso would have preferred, but Aang thought he could guess.
"A bridge to unite two places and a border to separate them," Aang said, wiping away his tears. "In other words, a door. Or the portal."
Tootega smiled. "Go on, then, Avatar Aang. If you've found your answer, Gyatso would want you to believe in it."
Zuko hefted the back end of a sled up onto the ridge so that the buffalo-yak could pull it up the slope and make its way out of the Howling Canyon. Ascending was much more work than descending, and took longer, but he tried to help where he could. Just having Toph and all the other earthbenders made things much easier, and the physical exertion helped keep him warm, anyway. While he made his way up, he passed the Astronomer standing precariously close to the edge, her gaze fixed on the sky.
"Do you see it?" she asked, but he wasn't sure if she spoke to him or to no one in particular. "That shining blue star, brighter than all the others? It's Seiryu's Moon. Oh, look how close it is now!"
He could see it. At first he might have dismissed it as another quirk of the Spirit World sky, but its light was more vivid than all the others, like she said. As they looked up at the star together, the light of day darkened as if a shadow passed in front of the sun, and when he directed his gaze to the south he saw black clouds rolling across the heavens. A massive wave, like a tsunami of ink or tar. "What's that?" he asked, eyes wide. "Those are not normal storm clouds."
"I suppose that is the Everstorm expanding from the South Pole," said the Astronomer, without a trace of fear. If anything, she gave the first indication of irritation that he had ever seen from her normally placid countenance: a scowl and a snap of her fingers. "Flaming hogmonkeys. It'll block our view of the second moon."
The distant clouds lit up with purple lightning, dark towers and columns pulsing ever closer.
Believe in my answer.
The world raged. The Everstorm stampeded across the South Pole like the river in a broken dam. Dark spirits laughed and reveled and clashed with the flickering lights, themselves no weaker despite the storm's power. Aang devoted the entirety of his concentration to navigating the storm and avoiding lightning, the glittering wind of his air-spiritbending their only shield against the chaos around them. Rain fell and at one point it burned as they flew to the eye of the storm, the southernmost point of the South Pole. They crossed the jagged southern mountains with no attempt to hide themselves - the odds of anyone seeing them were slim.
Despite the storm and the spirits, Appa flew harder than Aang had ever seen him fly before. Aang shouted for Azula to fly higher, higher – surely going above the storm would be safer. She pulled on the reins while Aang used spiritbending and he hoped dearly that he wouldn't have to redirect any lightning. Appa persisted through the struggle, and when he breached the clouds, Aang thought he had been deafened because the world above was silent.
The atmosphere had been split between black and violet or white and rose gold. Where darkness had conquered the world below, the skies far above the storm belonged to the light. Daylight and nighttime mixed, the golden heavens a canvas for the endless expanse of stars. The Everstorm below and the sky above both seemed to stretch to infinity, separated from each other so distinctly that it seemed by design.
Despite the presence of both light and darkness, the lion-turtle couldn't be here. There was no union, only separation. But he did see a column of energy piercing the storm clouds, black wisps swirling around it as it stretched to the heavens. Azula led Appa there as the lemurs poked their heads out of Aang's parka, confused by the sudden lack of thunderous clamor.
For the second time, Aang went through the spirit portal to another sky between dusk and dawn, and when Appa landed in front of the Tree of Time, all three of them dismounted. Aang scratched Appa's ears in gratitude, pressing his face against the bison's fur in the hopes Appa would understand his appreciation for the struggling he had just done to get them there.
"So this is the almighty spirit of darkness," said Azula, crossing her arms as she surveyed Vaatu in his prison. "He doesn't look all that impressive."
Despite all the changes in the Spirit World, the seal covering the Tree of Time had remained the same. The tree itself, however, had transformed. Before, its bark and branches seemed desolate and bare, almost dead, like fingers reaching out of a grave. But now the tree had become thicker, livelier, and it looked like it had even grown. New shoots sprung up from its branches and Aang wondered if it would one day mimic the Great Banyan on its other end.
On the other side of the clearing, the portal to the North Pole – still closed – swirled with dark energy, almost as if it absorbed all the power of the Everstorm outside. Aang still felt a sick twinge in his stomach when he looked at Vaatu and the darkness in the portal, but at least it wasn't complete revulsion anymore.
"Raava," Aang called out. Even though she was always with him, he wanted to speak to her physically. "Please, I need your help. I need to find the lion-turtle."
The spirit of light swirled into being in front of him as if sprouting from the ground. "You were wise to come here," she said. "He will come."
"She doesn't look that impressive either," Azula whispered to Sangmu out of the corner of her mouth. Aang glanced back at them and Sangmu looked horrified at the comment.
"You do know she can hear everything I do, right?" he asked with slight irritation. She grimaced in response and looked up at Raava with a little more respect this time.
Sangmu looked like she took care not to look at Vaatu while she addressed Raava. "Spirit of divine light," she said, a little too formal for Aang's tastes, as if to make up for Azula. "Is there anything you can do to help us?"
"Know you the true value of the lion-turtle you seek?" Raava asked. "Our children bear gifts that once aided humanity since the beginning of your time upon this earth. This lion-turtle tried to find you once before, but your mind had been clouded and your will uncertain."
Aang looked up at her, at the symbols within her form. He didn't want to ask when that might have been – when he had failed the test he didn't know he had been taking – and though he felt some shame for it, just being in Raava's presence made that feel insignificant. "I don't know. But I am here to learn. And now, I will not waver."
Vaatu spoke, and the booming of his voice made all three humans and all three animals shrink away from him in alarm. "OUR CHILD," he said, as if correcting Raava. "FOR THERE IS ONLY ONE REMAINING. IT WAS HUMANS AND THE DOMINION OF LIGHT THAT HAS MADE THEM ALL DIE, ONE BY ONE, FOR THE PAST TEN THOUSAND YEARS. AND I HAVE FELT EVERY DEATH HERE, FROM THIS PRISON OF MEMORY AND TIME."
Instead of her usual aggression toward Vaatu, Raava reacted toward his words with a grief Aang felt all too keenly. "The lion-turtles created the land upon which humanity walks. And for a time, your people lived on their backs. Protected and cherished. That time has long since ended."
"If what he says is true, would this lion-turtle want to meet us?" Azula asked.
Aang looked behind him at Azula and he saw another figure just past her that shook him more than even Vaatu did – the Fire Lord. She stood with shoulders slackened, her hair wild and loose and uneven, armor chipped and scratched and burned by battle. Her hair fell over her face until she slowly angled her head to look at Aang, a mad smile splitting her cracked, dry lips. She lunged toward Aang as if to firebend, but he composed himself in just enough time to keep from reacting to the movement.
She laughed to herself as if playing a game only she knew, but when she didn't get the reaction from him that she wanted, she vanished.
Aang let out a breath. He wanted to hit himself for not remembering the possibility that she could appear in front of him in the Spirit World. Azula and Sangmu both turned toward him, apparently ignorant of their entire exchange – if it could even be called that.
"Aang?" Azula asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said, shaking off the face from his nightmares. He didn't know how Azula could stand her for this long; it only made him more resolute about sparing her from having to deal with his demons.
"Darkness is trapped here," Vaatu said, speaking for the first time at a lower volume.
"Indeed," said Raava. "With the blockage of this flow between light and darkness, the lion-turtle is unable to come."
Aang looked at Raava, shocked as much by her words as the notion that she would agree with Vaatu. "What do you mean? Do you expect me to free him?"
"You have seen to the impossibility of that," said Vaatu, and Aang wasn't sure if he referred to Aang himself or Wan. Likely both. "This seal cannot be broken at any time until the moment of Harmonic Convergence. No, we seek a simpler solution."
"The opening of both spirit portals," said Raava. "Let the darkness through, let it flow like a river unimpeded. And here, in this place, the primordial forces of light and darkness will be as one."
"Once that is done, the lion-turtle will arrive?" Sangmu asked, her hands clasped in front of her. "How did all that darkness get clogged up in the northern spirit portal?"
"It sounds so simple," Azula said, shrugging. "But I won't question it. We should take the easy solutions whenever we can."
"I just have to make sure they're closed again before whenever this Harmonic Convergence is, right?" Aang asked, glancing tentatively at Raava for confirmation.
"I would appreciate that," said Raava, giving him something that might have been a nod.
If opening the other portal was something that both Raava and Vaatu could agree on, he could only assume it was the right thing to do. The last time he did it, with the southern portal, it had been a moment of desperation, barely any thought or intent involved. Now, as he walked to the other portal, the weight of the Spirit World pressed down on him. He had to hurry. His friends needed him – friends from both worlds.
"Let the darkness out," he said to himself, trying to envision the blockage Raava mentioned. The swirling sphere of energy made him think of unblocking his chakras with Guru Pathik. "And let it go."
The tattoos on his hands glowed and a column of light erupted into the sky just like the one at the southern portal. The force built up behind it had enough power to knock him off his feet, the mixture of light and dark flooding his vision. He had no time to look back at Azula and Sangmu to make sure they were okay, but when he lowered his arm from his eyes he blinked in shock when he saw Mai standing in front of him.
"Aang?" she asked, just as stunned as he was. He had never seen such an expression on her face, and somehow that was even more surprising.
She wasn't alone, either. The next thing he knew, a bulky and round pink blob barreled into him, wrapping around his neck and nearly suffocating him in the fur of its hem. "Aang!" Ty Lee hugged him tight enough that he momentarily feared suffocation for real, but he had enough awareness to hug her back through her tears of joy.
"How did this happen? How are you here?" Aang asked.
Jet and Haru stood next to Mai. "Hey there, Aang, Azula," Jet said, offering a wave. Jet had nothing but umbrage for Aang the last time they met; he could only wonder what had changed. Aang himself just felt relieved they were all safe.
Azula had gotten over her own shock and ran up to Aang's side, helping him up from the ground. "Ty Lee, Mai, everyone." She smiled at them as Ty Lee loosened her grip on Aang to embrace her, too. "It's good to see you."
Even Yue, Suki, and Ghashiun stood with them. The latter two appeared to be a little uncomfortable, but Yue looked around in wonder, even after all her time trapped here. "You pulled us into the Spirit World," she said. She held a white staff with a ruined head; a hollow leather drum that looked like it had been slashed by something. He wondered at its purpose – it didn't seem to be a weapon, since she still had her blade on her hip. "We went to investigate the strange energies from the portal, and right as we approached, a vibrant light shone out from it and the next thing we knew it brought us here."
"I'm glad you're all okay," Aang said, as Azula helped him to his feet. At that point, he noticed the strange spirits behind them, bird-creatures looking around with beady black eyes in what he could only assume to be confusion. One of them honked like a goose-dog. Momo stared at them with his fur on end. "But, uh… what are those?"
Thod made Chit Sang wait at the entrance to the Chamber of Elixirs. It was as if Thod thought that every minute he made Chit Sang stand there, it demonstrated how unimportant he was. Chit Sang didn't care. Let him play his games in his little palace of potions and tinctures.
The Chamber of Elixirs was a strangely round and open space where it seemed like the old man could practice his yoga. At the edges of the room sat tables stacked with bottles and jars of fluids and multicolored sands, ground up gems, and animal parts, set next to weighing scales. Upon high recessed shelves he saw more jars and vials of potions, perhaps more valuable due to their placement. At the innermost sanctum of the Alchemical Institute, this was apparently a place of geomantic importance, but it almost reminded Chit Sang of an old Fire Nation classroom. He fought the shiver crawling down his spine.
"Hanaa, Kulik," said Thod, addressing the teenage students who served his beck and call. Siblings, from the look of them. Chit Sang never had siblings. "What is the status of the Aromatherapy Project?"
"It is complete, master," said Hanaa, the girl, bowing deeply to him. The boy said nothing.
"I expect you to keep a record of the coming days for research purposes," Thod said to them, almost snappish. "Not only has our emperor conquered the seas and the land, but now he has even bested the skies."
"What do you mean?" Chit Sang burst out from behind Thod. Hakoda mentioned no such thing to him.
"What was that?" Thod asked. He didn't fully turn to Chit Sang, but only cocked his ear toward the entrance of the chamber. "Did the eelhound speak out of turn?"
Chit Sang grit his teeth but didn't rise to the bait.
"Even the heavens turn to acknowledge the superiority of Water," Thod continued. He finally turned toward Chit Sang and looked down his nose with an expression of distaste. "Right. You're here for the inoculation, I suspect. Your other little Skulls are finished with theirs by now, right?"
"They are."
Thod gestured to his disciples, who went to fetch whichever medicine they intended for him. Chit Sang didn't care what it did, but Hakoda ordered it for him and his Wolf's Skulls. Chit Sang didn't move at once. Thod made a face. "What else do you want?"
"I have heard you know of a way I can clear my mind," Chit Sang said, grudgingly. "A technique of sorts."
"The foreigner's trick," said Thod, waving a hand. "Right. You seek Long Feng. Well, he's here. Kulik will bring you to him."
The new tattoo on Chit Sang's forehead prickled.
Sokka leaned on his knees, panting heavily after he helped dislodge the sled from a hole deep in the ice hidden by snow. From here, he could see the lights of Aniak'to in the distance, shining in the darkness that shrouded the snowfields. The Everstorm roared overhead – a terrible omen, and certainly a fear with the war balloons – but all of the soldiers had come too far to turn back now. Sokka would be right up there with them. It was a good thing he didn't put much stock in omens.
Mystics from the Earth Kingdom and the White Lotus delegation flanked both sides of the invasion force as they marched toward the walls of the city, warding them from the interference of spirits with chants and incense that seemed useless to Sokka, drowned out by the wind. Somehow, they had not been discovered by any of Hakoda's scouts yet, to their knowledge. He assumed most took shelter from the storm.
Katara walked at his side in short bursts, leaning on her sled for support and balance. Her recovery came swift, but he knew she had a long way to go. He still wasn't sure if that frightened him or not, or if he even liked the idea of marching toward their home alongside her at all. Sometimes, she liked to pretend that nothing had changed. That he didn't turn against her at Ba Sing Se, or that she didn't bloodbend him with the intent to kill.
Sisters, his other self scoffed.
Without warning, the dark clouds parted. Vivid blue light shone down on them, revealing a massive orb that covered all of the sky made visible by the vanishing clouds. It was so huge and so blue that for one horrific moment Sokka thought it was his father's eye staring down at him.
"How bizarre," said the Astronomer, standing near him. Everyone had stopped marching, gazing up at the sky in bewilderment. "That is Seiryu's Moon! It's here five days early! Oh dear, I was certain I didn't miscalculate…"
The whole world had been tinged in a shadow of blue, and when the light touched him, Sokka felt something electric flow through him. He felt energized in a way he never had before; something cold but also boiling, a hailstorm and a tsunami, a thirst that could not be quenched. He wanted to bend. He wanted to move.
They were too late. Somehow, they missed their chance.
But if they didn't stop Hakoda now, it would all be over.
Zuko and Toph found him, running up from further back in the procession toward Sokka. "This isn't good!" Zuko exclaimed, eyes wide.
"What do we do?" Toph asked, her fists clenched.
"You're asking me?" Sokka looked at them both; even Katara, who watched him with an inscrutable expression on her face. After a pause, he made a sound almost like a growl. "We have no choice… we need to begin the invasion, right now – without Aang."
Author's Notes: Please review, and head on over to Part 2!
