Note: I discovered that "chi" is also considered an accurate spelling of the word so I will use that seeing as it is more well-known to English-speaking readers.
Guru Pathik sat at the top of a shrine overlooking the rest of the Eastern Air Temple, meditating tranquilly. The full moon beautifully illuminated the black sky and the light emitting from it shone down upon the wise Guru.
"Is something wrong Chang?" the wise Guru asked calmly, somehow realizing the man was there without opening his eyes.
A man emerged from behind a rock wall and awkwardly approached Pathik. He had not meant to be seen, he was talking a walk and wished to be alone. He was a former Earth Kingdom soldier, an Earthbender as well, though he had left service after he had lost his right arm in battle.
"I was just taking a walk" Chang said uncomfortably. Chang was one of the many injured and displaced soldiers and benders who had taken refuge in the Eastern Air Temple after the war had ended. Guru Pathik had continued living at the temple to help guide and nurture the refugees.
"It is awfully late to be taking a walk my friend" Pathik responded softly. "You should get some sleep, you seem tired."
"I don't really sleep anymore" Chang informed in a matter-of-factly manner. "Not since this happened." He pointed to the armhole on the right side of his shirt sleeve.
"All injuries heal with time my friend" Pathik comforted. "But I do not think that is what you mean."
"…It isn't" Chang hesitantly admitted. He had not spoken of the horrors of the war to anyone, but something about the strange Guru's kind, understanding nature caused the instinctive locks to open. "It's the nightmares. Every soldier has them, anyone who has witnessed war."
"Yes" Pathik said, nodding his head but with his eyes remaining shut. "Though not every soldier's nightmares are the same; tell me, what are your personal struggles?"
Chang shook his head, and whispered "It's too horrible Pathik."
"Tell me" Pathik offered gently. "Sometimes just talking about something makes the pain of it a little less intense."
Chang bowed his head. The desire to release his pain was too great. Finally he submitted and told, "When this happened. (He again pointed to what remained of his arm) My parents' house was being burned down with them and my sister inside of it. By the time that Firebender was finished with my arm, I couldn't do anything to help them. It was so scorched up that when it was over they had to chop it. It was like having a dead snake attached to my shoulder. If I didn't let that happen my family might still be alive."
Guru Pathik finally opened his eyes. "You have indeed endured great pain my friend" he said as he felt the condition of his chi. "But all wounds heal in time."
"I don't care about my arm" Chang said decrepitly. "The pain of having it burned off was nothing compared to losing my family."
"That is what I meant" Pathik explained patiently, seeing as he obviously didn't expect Chang's arm to grow back. "The grief of your loss has indeed upset your inner heart. Your Air Chakra is blocked; your grief is stopping your chi from flowing freely, but one day love will again find its way to you and reopen it."
That morning, on a balcony at the Southern Air Temple overlooking the mountain range two boys were tossing a toy to one another that belonged to a smaller, younger boy who stood in the middle of them as he jumped up to try and reach it.
"Give it back! Give it back! Give it back!" the little boy pleaded as his tormentors laughed cruelly.
"Try and make us!" one of the bullies shouted mockingly.
Just then the guardian of the temple Jeong Jeong appeared among the three children. The Earth Kingdom children stood frozen in fear of the Firebending master. Though they were young, the instinctive fear of Firebenders had been instilled in them by their families with terrifying, nightmarish tales of them burning villages to the ground and slaughtering hundreds of innocents. Though the soldiers who had guided them from their razed homes had ensured them that the old Firebender in charge of protecting the temple was kind and not like the Firebenders who had invaded their land, few of the refugees had an easy time believing that claim, though few refused to go on this ground, seeing as they had no other home or place of sanctuary.
All three of the boys reacted as if a man-eating bear stood before them as Jeong Jeong said nothing. Nonchalantly the old master reached for the bully who had the little boy's toy. The bully cringed in fear, expecting a ball of fire to melt his eyeballs from inside their sockets. Instead Jeong Jeong took the toy from his hand and gave it to the little boy who took it hesitantly.
"Do not take things that don't belong to you" Jeong Jeong advised calmly and rationally, much to the boys' mutual surprise. "As long as we all live in this temple we must learn to get along and show each other respect."
The two boys who had been bullying the youngest one nodded and left quickly. Jeong Jeong turned to leave as well.
The boy who Jeong Jeong had defended was nervous at first but then called, "Wait!"
Jeong Jeong stopped and turned to face the boy.
"Thank you" the boy said. Without thinking he instinctively bowed politely and added, "Master Jeong Jeong."
The aged Firebender seemed taken aback by this; the thought of a child from the Earth Kingdom thanking him for anything was incredibly foreign and yet…revitalizing. Jeong Jeong smiled and bowing he replied, "You are welcome."
Meanwhile Master Piandao was awake early at the Western Air Temple, doing routine stretches to stay loose.
As he stayed calm, with his acute sense of hearing he heard a subtle clanking sound off to the distance. He then realized that he had forgotten to bring his sword with him when he had left his new bedroom that morning. He left to investigate the metallic noise.
Piandao walked to around a pillar and stopped when he saw the source. He saw a young woman of no more than 15 years holding his jian in her hand and attempting to replicate sword fighting forms, to little avail.
As she continued with this Piandao watched patiently, silently critiquing her form.
After two minutes had passed Piandao emerged from his hiding place and said, "Hold your arm closer to your body."
"Master Piandao!" the teenager shouted, fearfully surprised. Her shock caused her to drop the weapon. She picked it up carefully and rapidly apologized, "I am so sorry master. I didn't mean to wake you. I swear I was going to give your sword back. I'm so sorry I took it." She placed the sword in her palms and offered it to the old man.
"I didn't say give it back" the swordsman replied. "I said hold your arm closer to your body."
"…What?"
"Like this" Piandao said as he took the sword and demonstrated a forward thrust, keeping his arm pressed close to his body as opposed to wildly swinging it about as she had done. "There's no focus in the way you were doing it. Keep your power centered."
He handed the sword back to her. Confused at first, she repeated what he had done.
"Much better" the sword-master praised. "Continue."
The girl smiled and continued practicing with Piandao's sword. Other than occasional corrections he interrupted only once to ask, "What's your name?"
"Jing" she answered with a grin.
Meanwhile back in the Fire Nation Aang and Zuko waited in a prison interrogation room for the guards to bring in the former Fire Lord Ozai.
"Do you want to speak with him alone, or should I do it, or should both of us?" Aang asked.
"I need you here to detect lies, and I have a few choice words for him. We'll speak together" Zuko decided as he said it.
"I don't know if I can detect his lies" Aang informed.
"Why not?"
"Azula was able to lie without Toph being able to detect it. Ozai might be even worse than her; he may be able to lie without me catching it."
Zuko thought about this for a few minutes. "I don't think he can" he told Aang.
"Why?" asked the Avatar.
"Azula probably could lie without detection because she used to have complete control over her emotions; she was cold and calculating, not emotional and energetic like normal Firebenders. That's how she could generate lightning so easily. But my father is more like other Firebenders, he lets rage and passions fuel his strength so I think he feels it when he lies, even if he doesn't regret it. I also think that even if he used to be able to, he can't now, seeing as he's been stripped powerless and robbed of his throne I don't see him as having that kind of control left."
"Maybe you're right" Aang concurred.
The door to the room burst opened and two guards forcefully shuffled the withered heap that once was the world's most powerful Firebender into the room and threw him into a chair at the end of a small table that together were the only contents of the room.
Sitting up lazily, the former Fire Lord merely said, "Why can't you just leave me to die in my cell peacefully?"
Zuko ignored this comment. "We have some questions to ask you" was all he said.
Ozai did not respond.
"Azula was murdered and my son Lu Ten, your grandson was nearly dealt the same fate. I'm sure you already know that though. What the Avatar and I want to know is, did you see or hear anything that might give us a clue about the people who did it the night it happened?" Zuko asked roughly.
"No" Ozai said shortly.
Aang felt Ozai's body react to his statement.
"He's lying" said Aang. At least now they knew Aang could sense Ozai's lies.
"What did you see?" Zuko asked sharply.
"Why should I tell you two?" Ozai scoffed. "You my son are nothing but a traitor and as for you Avatar, well everyday of my life has been a living hell since you stole my Firebending. I will tell you nothing."
"Typical" was Zuko's immediate response. "But Azula was always your favorite. Don't you want us to bring the people who broke her neck to justice?"
"Justice!" the former Fire Lord flared. "Justice oh that is rich! What do you naïve fools know of justice? As I recall you both are so weak and without a sense of justice that when either of you had a perfect opportunity to kill me, you didn't have the spine. You won't avenge my daughter; you won't kill the people who murdered her. So then why should I tell you anything?"
"A sense of justice?" Zuko repeated. "As I recall you define justice as scarring a 13-year-old boy permanently just because he spoke out of turn! Would you rather I turned out to be a cold-blooded murderer like you and Azula?"
Ozai merely sighed.
"Tell us what you saw!" Zuko demanded, as flames expelled out his mouth.
"Or what?" his father asked. "You won't kill me if I don't and you won't torture me to get me to. You have nothing to threaten me with; there is nothing more you can take away from me; you already took my bending and my throne."
Zuko growled in frustration. He took Aang over to a corner of the room and spoke quietly with him.
"He's right" Aang said. "We don't have anything to threaten him with."
"Well then what do we do?" Zuko asked impatiently. "Can't you make him tell us Aang?"
"What? How could I do that?" Aang replied.
"Don't you have some kind of Avatar power that can force him to tell us?"
"No. The Avatar doesn't have any powers like that. Maybe we could offer him something in return, like better prison food or something."
"It's worth a try."
They reproached the table.
"What do want in return for the information?" Zuko asked calmly, yet still obviously resenting being in this man's presence.
Ozai cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked tentatively.
"You live in a prison; there has to be something you want. Better food, better clothes, more blankets and soap, a bed; what do you want?"
"There is but one thing I will trade for this information" Ozai said calmly.
"What is it?"
"You cannot give it to me" Ozai snapped. He turned his head to Aang and smirked evilly. "You can Avatar."
"What?" Aang replied, shocked.
"Give me my Firebending back Avatar and I will tell you everything you want to know."
"What? No way!" Aang shouted.
"That is my only price" Ozai said as he smiled proudly.
"No deal! I don't even know if I could" Aang responded. Aang had meant what he said, the ways of Energybending were still shrouded in mystery to him; he had used it only once in his entire life, when he had eliminated Ozai's Firebending abilities. He knew little else of its capabilities and whether of not he could restore the former Fire Lord's power if he wanted to.
"It's a shame" Ozai said. "Won't it be dreadful when those horrible men come in the middle of the night to kill your family?"
"It would be no different than if I returned your Firebending" Aang said. "The only difference would be that it be you doing it."
"If you give me back my bending I promise no harm will come to either of you or your loved ones" said Ozai.
Aang felt the falseness of this statement with his Earthbending. "You're lying."
"Aang is right" Zuko said. "Even if we could, we won't return your Firebending."
"Aang?" Ozai repeated, looking to the Avatar. "So that is your name; Aang. Never in my life did I think a Fire Lord would have the audacity to be on a first name basis with the Avatar, his mortal enemy."
"It's not the first time it's happened" Aang interjected. "My past life Roku was once best friends with Sozin, your grandfather."
"What?!" Ozai spat, clearly offended.
Seeing this gave Zuko satisfaction and unlocked a natural barrier in his mind. "That isn't all" he added. "He was my great-grandfather!"
"We all know that Sozin was your…" Ozai began.
"That's not what I meant!" yelled Zuko. "Avatar Roku was my mother's grandfather!"
"What?!" Aang said at the same time as Ozai.
Ozai slumped in his chair and sneered, "It figures she was the spawn of treacherous scum."
"Don't talk about her that way!" Zuko demanded.
"Oh did I strike a nerve son?" Ozai teased.
"Don't call me that" Zuko ordered. "It doesn't matter who created me; Uncle Iroh is my father. But at least I can call Ursa mother."
"Or at least you used to be able to."
Aang knew in that instant that if Zuko's rage would now become like flame doused in gasoline.
"Where is she?!" the Fire Lord boomed. "My men turned that Earth Kingdom village upside down to find her, but she wasn't there! You lied to me! Where is she?!"
"…She wasn't there?" Ozai asked confusedly.
"Tell me where she really is!"
"I don't know where she is! If she wasn't there then I don't know!"
"You're lying!"
"Uh…Zuko" Aang said cautiously. "He uh…isn't lying." He felt they were getting off-subject, but knew better than to say anything.
Zuko's eyes widened as his friend told him this. He began breathing heavily but then he regained control of himself.
"See this?" Zuko said as he pointed to his left eye. "This is where my scar used to be before my friend healed it. If my mother had known that you, her husband, would be the one to do it to me, she probably wouldn't have had second thoughts about leaving. She left because you were heartless enough to even consider ending your own son's life. I'm just glad she wasn't here to see what a greater monster you've become. Let's go Aang."
He opened the door and readied to leave. Aang slowly followed him. As the Fire Lord peered after them, he appeared genuinely surprised.
"W…wait" Ozai beckoned. The Avatar and the Fire Lord halted. "…The men who killed Azula were Dai Li agents. There were three of them. Long Feng was one of them. I recognized the other two; they had fled the Fire Nation before the war had ended because they were still loyal to Long Feng. They names were Ling and Ping. Ling is missing his right pinky finger. When they left they said something about their other targets."
"Other targets?" asked Aang.
"Your wife for one" Ozai elaborated. "But if you're here I'm sure you already know that. They didn't know you were married then but they still knew that would aid in their vengeance."
"Who else did they name as a target?" Zuko asked.
"They said something about a warrior who left his mark on Long Feng when they tried to assassinate the Earth King."
Aang's chest nearly exploded in shock. He knew what Ozai was speaking of; his friends had told him of everything that had transpired in that incident. When the rest of Team Avatar was preoccupied fighting off Dai Li agents, Long Feng had the perfect opportunity and pinned the Earth King down as he prepared the killing blow but before he had the chance a metal boomerang sang through the air and cut a gash in his forehead. He was so near death the entire Dai Li had to retreat. The thrower of that nation-saving boomerang was none other than Aang's brother-in-law.
"Sokka!" Aang yelled as fear gripped his heart.
"Sokka?" Zuko repeated dismayed. Sokka was one of Zuko's closest friends; Zuko had bonded closely with Sokka when he had aided him in a mission to rescue his father from the Boiling Rock Fire Nation Prison. "Oh no…what else did you hear?"
"That's all I know" said Ozai. Zuko looked to Aang.
"Everything he said was the truth" the Avatar confirmed.
"Then we don't have a moment to loose. Let's go Aang" Zuko said as Aang jetted out the door. Zuko lingered for a moment.
"…Father…?"he started.
"What?" Ozai asked quietly.
"Thank you."