Part IV: The Avatar-thing
Momo and Aang were covered in dark soot, climbing the black rock volcano. The fiery red summit lit the way to their destination. In their current situation, climbing was their best option. It was far to dangerous for Appa to fly near the summit amidst its toxic, burning ash and airborne lava. The Avatar didn't take the risk to perform any earthbending on the volcano's unstable surface, with the chance of breaking open a lava vein. And Aang couldn't firebend simply because…he was not permitted. The arrow headed monk led the way with Momo right behind him. The higher they climbed, the steeper the slope became. At this point, the two had to pull themselves up the nearly vertical slope grabbing on to the jagged crevasses cutting their hands on occasion. What made the feat so exhausting was the intolerable high temperatures; streams of lava flowed downhill past duo, bombarding them with waves of heat. Momo cursed at himself for not bringing gloves; his palms and fingers were wet with sweat and blood. It was difficult to keep his hands fastened. Oh what he'd give to be a lemur again, just for the time being. Periodically, Aang looked down under him to make sure Momo was keeping up. Whenever necessary, Aang swung his arm and airbended above him to redirect the fall of any oncoming debris.
Reaching his hand up on a rocky edge, the monk pulling himself up. To his relief he came across a small ridge…large enough to take just a moment's break. Getting himself up on the ridge he turned to the edge to give his friend a hand and boosted him up. The two turned around to lean back on the slope. Momo breathe in deeply but coughed aloud, taking in too much of the sulfur-polluted air. Turning to his side he saw the Monk swaying his arms back in forth in the middle of the air. It took Momo a second to realize that Aang was collecting moisture in the air, gathering it into a small floating stream of water. Once he collected a substantial amount, he guided the stream and formed it into a watery globe, levitating right in front of Momo. Aang offered, "Momo, take some." Momo didn't hesitate and dunked his face into the water, sucking in gulps. It was cool. The hydration gave Momo fresh relief; he gained the stamina to climb another hundred feet. Pulling his head out of the water, he took in a deep breath and again, gave out a terrible cough from inhaling the airborne ash. "Take it easy." Aang said calmly to him while patting his back.
Before Momo could reply, the ground before them began to shake violently. The two braced the side of the wall to prevent from losing balance and falling off the ledge. Suddenly a few meters away from Momo's side, the wall exploded, unleashing a cascade of swearing hot magma. The red torrent continued pouring out at a constant rate. Momo and Aang couldn't do anything but stand their ground and try to withstand the intense raw heat. Finally the lava flow quickly subsided. At the end of the flow, it seemed as some of the lava had went against gravity and flowed backwards, retreating into the mountain. Momo kept still for a moment until Aang gestured, "Look Momo." Ignoring the light burns on his skin, he noticed the lava flow had stopped completely, leaving behind an empty tunnel. He turned to Aang in uncertainty. The monk gave a plain stare at the tunnel entrance, "There's our invitation."
The two sidestepped to the tunnel and climbed in. Surprised, Momo looked ahead to see that the tunnel was completely dark aside from the red glow at the very end. And to add to his amazement, the tunnel was comparatively cool, definitely not naturally-occuring. Looking to Aang he sighed, "Seems Ozai's giving us a little break. I feel so honored," he finished with a mocking tone. "Well then," Aang replied, "lets not be rude." And the two ventured through the long, dark channel. Though the sizzling and gurgling sounds became more distant as they went deeper into the tunnel, the vibrations around them were fierce but brief. But when it settled, the two were able to hear their echoing footsteps. Aang had kept quiet. This entire time Avatar's expression seemed unfazed. It made Momo chuckle to himself, "So Aang, I guess it's too late to try to convince you…again?"
"Oh come on, Momo, you never even had a chance, I'm going with you all the way and there's nothing you say to change it. Besides, Ozai did seem rather content in me tagging along with you." Momo replied with a huff, "Well that didn't mean you had to come." Surprisingly, Momo heard Aang heave a sigh and said softly, "It is…the least I can do." Momo squinted at Aang. No matter how enlightened 'Avatar Aang' had become, Momo could easily sense whenever Aang leaned toward the most silent grief or guilt. Momo paused his pace and put a hand on Aang's shoulder, "Aang," he said sternly, "You know there's nothing you could've done, I mean, to prevent this." Aang replied nonchalantly, "Momo. Don't worry about me." But Momo just went on, "I've only been human for 5 years, but I could still read you as clear as I could when we first met. It's not your fault Ozai became what he became. You were just doing your Avatar-thing when you tried to give Ozai a chance way back when. It's not your fault you weren't around when Ozai had came back. You were doing your Avatar-thing to figure out what was going on. I know you're not beating yourself up over it. But don't even have the slightest wonder that any of this was your fault. You've done nothing but help end the war and make the world happy again."
Momo took in a breath, wiping his hands on his pants. He realized he never took the time to show his true appreciation to his dear friend. Even as a lone lemur, Aang had welcomed him with open arms to be part of such a wonderful family. And when he became human Aang was with him every step of the way. Aang even insisted to go out on a long, boring pilgrimage by himself (doing his Avatar-thing) 'just' to found out what was troubling him. Momo couldn't have ask for a better friend. Momo scratched the back of his head, "Aang, you know…thanks, for everything."
Aang finally turned his face to Momo with a light smile on his face. "Thank you, Momo." The monk then put his hand on Momo's back and his grin widened, "And nice try, I'm 'still' going with you." Momo chuckled and rolled his eyes, "All right, whatever you say tough guy," as the two resumed trekking down the tunnel.
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Several weeks had past since Aang had left for his pilgrimage. In the northwestern region of the Earth kingdom the Avatar's companions stayed over night in the town of Cha Huo. It was morning when Katara pointed frantically at the sight of Momo as he ate his late breakfast. She initially thought his clothes were on fire as a white steam rose from his back. But Katara was baffled as to see Momo had started glowing; a white smoky aura was emitting from all over his body. Momo too was confused at what was happening to him. There was a sudden earthquake. Everyone ran outside, out of the buildings. The tremors became worse and worse until the ground burst open with magma engulfing the small house Momo has stayed in. Lava spewed out rapidly. Fire consumed everything it touched. A figure then emerged from the lava spout. It had the shape of a human's upper body yet made entirely of lava and flames. The figure roared, flailed its arms around, and every combustible object in the creature's sight caught aflame. The town was quickly decimated and the figure soon retreated, leaving behind a black crater of solidifying lava.
The group: Sokka, Katara, Toph, Momo, and Ty lee, fled to nearby villages, along with the recent homeless. Within several hours, Momo began to glow once again and the treacherous fire golem emerged in proximity, burning everything in range. So the group, flew grew distances on Appa to escape from the monster. But in time, Momo's body would let out a distinguishable aura, and the fire golem would again appear. The group quickly figured out that the creature would arrive when Momo started glowing, but what they didn't get right away was that Momo was the sole target.
The sphere that transformed Momo into a human, its essence fused within him…within his soul. And the sphere's essence would glow and reveal its location to the possessor of the other sphere. The Fire Golem was in fact the former Fire lord. The sphere that Ozai last held had fused with his soul, exposing the true nature of his element, becoming one with his element. But such overwhelming power, Ozai had no control…not at the start. So his soul wondered within his element, inside the fiery heart of the planet. Overtime, Ozai managed to restore his sanity and overtime began to understand the extent of his power. Finally after three years he was ready to attack.
Avatar Aang was already gathering this information through his time-consuming travels into the spirit world. He managed to locate the Spirit of the Library, Wan Shi Tong, and pleaded for any information of the Aether's Gemini trying to explain to him the story behind Momo, the fire lord, and the Aether's Gemini . At first Wan Shi Tong hardly considered helping the Avatar after there previous 'convention' at the desert, but with some persuasion of the Sun Spirit himself, Wan Shi Tong agreed under the condition that the Avatar would help recover the destroyed archives of the firebenders. With the agreement made, Wan Shi Tong casually explained to the Aang that the world was in a grave crisis. With the power of the sphere he fused with, Ozai literally became the second God of Fire. Having complete command all fire expect the Sun, Ozai had the power to bring forth a fiery hell on Earth. He could also rob anyone the ability to firebend. But there was catch for a mortal's soul to have such a raw and powerful form. One: he couldn't be separated from his element. Two: the power of his sphere was exponentially decaying and Ozai's soul would eventually pass. He needed a power that could provide him with a stable "shell." It was a power that could only come from the other sphere. And unfortunately Ozai had figured this all out himself.
Months had past before Aang caught up and reunited with his friends, who had been constantly escaping Ozai's clutches. They discovered that they were able to keep out of Ozai's reach if there kept hidden out in the ocean or the poles. But guilt would catch up to them, for Ozai would only go out of his way to annihilate cities and forests throughout the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, each incident becoming more and more destructive.
Finally when Aang joined up with the others, both sides had terrible news to share. Aang listened to Katara who explained that the last time they encountered Ozai, he threatened he could cause the world to explode if Momo doesn't surrender himself in five days. The group didn't understand why he wanted Momo, until Aang had filled them in with all the knowledge he had gained in the spirit world. Lastly Aang told the group of one secret about the Aether's Gemini. It was a secret that could save the world. It was a secret that led to Momo's final decision.