Disclaimer: I do not own either Avatar: The Last Airbender or Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I am only borrowing the characters.
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The animal healer squatted by the sky bison, and laid her water-covered hands on his side. Nothing felt wrong, but his heart was still failing. She didn't even reach up to wipe away the tear that was rolling down her cheek.
She laid her head on Appa's silky fur, praying that some of her strength could flow into him. His breath was reduced to a whisper, and his side pushed her hands up and down with each wheeze. Up, down. Up, down. Up...
--
Down. Aang sat back against his pillows and turned his head to look at his slumbering wife. Her silver hair was spread out over both of their pillows, making her look particularly unguarded.
"Wow. That was a weird dream. I just died. But you don't really die in dreams," he murmured.
"I BELIEVE THIS IS ONE OF THE CONVENTIONS THAT PROVES TRUE."
"What? Dying in my sleep? Don't be silly, I'm the Avatar. I'll be killed in battle." Aang rolled over to face the speaker, but only saw a black shape backlit by the moonlit window. The only part he could make out were blue spots of light where eyes should be.
"YES. I KNOW. WE'VE MET BEFORE." The figure gestured with his scythe ( i Had that been there before/i Aang wondered) to the door. Aang followed him out to the courtyard. "AVATAR LAO WAS AN ESPECIALLY GOOD SPORT."
"Avatar Lao?" Aang's brow wrinkled in cofusion. "He died over one thousand years ago. How did you-?" He looked up at his companion's thin face and his eyes grew in shock. Moonlight reflected off of white bone, and Death turned his permanent grin towards Aang.
"So I'm..."
"YES."
"And you're..."
"AFRAID SO."
"Oh." Aang watched his own feet (well, they probably weren't really feet by now, his subconscious told him) and asked, "Suppose you've met countless Avatars, huh?"
Death paused in walking, and Aang could have sworn he heard a chuckle before the response. "NOT COUNTLESS."
A mischevious grin danced across the Avatar's face. "How many?"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW," Death responded in a disapproving tone.
His expression clouded as Aang realized what he wanted to ask. "You're right. What will happen to-"
"YOUR WIFE WILL CRY, AND FIND COMFORT IN YOUR GRANDCHILDREN. THEY ARE ALL VERY MUCH LIKE YOU." Seeing Aang's smile reappear, Death chided, "THAT IS NOT ENTIRELY A GOOD THING. THEY ARE ALL ENTIRELY TOO SILLY."
"I know," Aang responded, still smiling. "What now?"
Death gripped the black reins of a white horse-ostrich and gestured to a very familiar furry mountain. "I RIDE BIN QI AND YOU RIDE APPA. WE MUST HURRY, YOUR NEW INCARNATION IS BEING BORN IN THE FIRE NATION CAPITOL NOW."
Aang mounted Appa's spirit form and asked, "Aren't I supposed to be a water bender, not a fire bender?"
"INDEED."
--
"Fire Lord Zuko." The nurse bowed as the man entered the room. Her blue garb was not so out of place in the palace as it would have once been. The Avatar had brought peace, and with that dropped the barriers between the four cultures. Earth and Water people walked freely in the Fire Lord's palace.
"I have come to see my newest granddaughter."
"Here she is, Father," his daughter said from the bed. Cradled in her arms was a tiny bundle of red silk and blue fur. "Come meet Pallo."
Author's Note: So. The first Avatar fanfic that I ever wrote, and it is a crossover, and a death scene. Wow, people must love me for this. Please review and let me know what you thought. Was Death simple enough for the people unacquainted with Discworld to understand? Also, I am on the hunt for a beta, so let me know if you are interested.