A/N: I know this isn't the update many of you were hoping for, but it was important nonetheless. I also realized that not writing it was what was blocking me on Duels of Honor, so... there ya go.

The Final Chakra

A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind.
-Daisaku Ikeda

It is a terrible wait.

Aang is already meditating when the comet slices through the sky, trailing fire in its wake, and he tries to take comfort from the earth beneath his body. This barren stone forest has stood since the beginning of time; it will continue to stand in some form until the world crumbles to dust, no matter what transpires today. It is like the Avatar in that respect. This small, frail body may plummet to the ground below or burst into searing flame, but the Avatar will live on in some infant girl born into the Water Tribe. Maybe she will look like Katara: skin dark as an arctic seal, eyes bluer than the engagement necklace the girl could wear.

He imagines the designs he would have carved for the Waterbender who has stood by his side - symbols of air and water, intertwined for eternity. But even if he survives, that necklace will never be made, because Katara would not accept it.

The ache that rises around Aang's heart has no place in what is to come. He blinks back tears that may be caused by his thoughts, or possibly by the smoke that is beginning to blow in from the distance.

He still does not know what to do.

He does not know if he can kill.

It is true, he has killed in the past. But those were moments of rage, or when he was controlled by the Avatar, or when he simply wasn't considering the consequences of his actions. This moment will be something else altogether: he will be entering a fight for the sole, clear-minded, cold intent of destroying another human being. It may be justified - it may be murder - but either way, it will be deliberate, and Aang does not know if he is capable.

Then it is too late for further reflection. He climbs to his feet as thousands of birds flee the approaching wall of fire and flame. "Momo," he says, "time for you to go."

Momo does not need to be asked twice.

An exhale. A series of boulders brought crashing into the side of the sole airship bringing the tyrant to this shore. An orange explosion - it is amazing what the comet has done to firebending, it's a rush of pure pleasure through every nerve ending - and the airship falls. Aang shivers, wondering how many soldiers who were only serving their nation have broken their bones, broken their necks in the crash; there is already blood already on his hands.

Ozai is nearly twice the twelve-year-old's height. The Avatar is steady, but Aang can only pray his fear won't crack the surface and make him tremble.

"After generations of Fire Lords failed to find you, now the universe delivers you to me as an act of providence."

"Please listen to me," Aang says one last time. It will not work, but he has to at least know he tried. "We don't have to fight. You have the power to end it here and stop what you're doing."

"You are right," says Fire Lord Ozai. "I do have the power. I have all the power in the world."

It is a terrible battle.

Earth flies. Air blows. Water crashes. And fire, fire everywhere, fire is everything.

The Avatar is Master of all four elements... but Aang has had less than a year to learn waterbending, less than seven months to learn earthbending, and less than four months to learn firebending - the latter of which in particular did not go well. He relies on his stronger elements to escape Ozai's blows to the greatest extent possible. Escape means less time to counterattack. He is not losing, but he is not winning, either.

Lightning, sharp and blue like the iceberg cracks that released the Avatar from a century of sleep, begins to arc through the air.

Sifu Iroh told him what to do. In the arm. Through the stomach. Out the other arm. Keep the electricity away from his heart. Zuko warned him as well, though in harsher and less patient terms. In the arm. Through the stomach. Out the other arm. Redirect it to your opponent.

All Aang has to do is point the fingers of his right hand at the Fire Lord.

But Aang does not know how to kill.

Then he is falling, running, encased in rock. Hiding like a child.

"You're weak, just like the rest of your people. They did not deserve to exist in this world - in my world. Prepare to join them. Prepare to die!"

It is a terrible choice.

The Thought Chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment.

Aang knew - on some level - what he would have to face.

Meditate on what attaches you to this world.

The final pool of energy has been blocked to him for so long, not because he could not let go, but because he did not want to let go. Because Aang wants to go penguin sledding and zoom about on his air scooter. Aang wants to play pai sho with Monk Gyatso. He wants to marry Katara.

Four years younger than past Avatars were even told what they were, Aang has been asked to save the world. It is too much for a child.

It is not that Aang must release her. It has never been that. It is that Aang must release his last true attachment: the selfish, human hope for a future all his own.

All I want is what is best for him.
But what we need is what's best for the world.

Monk Gyatso would have let him grow up as a normal boy, and Katara, if she had felt about him the way he felt about her, would have given him a normal life. A family. Children. Grandchildren. Everything that has been denied to him out of a destiny shaped the moment of his birth.

Both of them, acting from love and kindness, wanted to shelter him from the burdens into which he had been born. And Aang wanted so, so much to be sheltered. He wanted to go penguin sledding. He wanted to be twelve.

You must learn to let go.

"Come on out, Avatar! You can't hide in there forever!"

Inside a circle of stone, he finally understands what so many have tried to tell him.

He releases his past.

He releases his future.

He breathes deeply, and as the rock blasts away, Aang releases himself.

The final chakra unlocks.

The world glows white.

The Avatar rises.

The world splinters blue.

The Fire Lord falls.

A/N: I know that I have been very, very slow on this story, and for that I apologize; I've had a handful of other projects that I needed to manage, and also, this is honestly one of the hardest fics I've ever worked on. But I assure you that, while postings may not come as fast as you or I may wish, they will continue to come. (You know how I know? Because I'm not allowing myself to watch Legend of Korra until this story is finished.) Thank you so much for your patience and when the ending arrives - fingers crossed for soon - I hope it will be satisfying.

By the way, if you're curious about one of the side projects that unfortunately had to demand my attention, it's available on Amazon. http (colon-slash-slash) amzn (dot) to (slash) HjLYO1