The next scenes go by Korra very quickly but she is aware of every detail. She sees the Dragon Brotherhood who terrorizes the farm community of United Acres, extorting money and threatening the destruction of crops and land if their demands are not met. They are fire benders, three in all but they are far from ordinary as the fire they bend is pure white! Korra knows of the feared Princess Azula and her ability to bend blue fire, hotter and stronger than a normal fire bender is capable of. She also knows that while blue fire was rare but known of even before Azula, white fire is supposed to be a myth.
White fire is said to be the hottest and strongest type of fire. No fire bender has ever been capable of bending it, even an Avatar. The only reason that knowledge of it exists is because the first dragons spoke of its dangers to the early Sun Warriors. Yet, the Dragon Brotherhood bends it with terrible ease and deadly accuracy. They have just slaughtered an entire family after the father refused to pay when Zuko, Sokka, and Suki arrive. The battle is fierce but it seems Team Avatar manages to overpower them until their leader, a tall and pale looking woman, pulls back the hood she wears to reveal a third eye.
The fight soon takes a devastating turn as "Combustion Woman" proceeds to make the scene around her explode and even her two compatriots are killed in the crossfire. When she attempts to aim an attack at Sokka, Suki bravely leaps in front of her husband and pays the ultimate price. The Southern Water Chief is filled with great sadness and terrible rage as he hurls the boomerang he still carries with him after all these years at the woman's third eye. Her chi is blocked and her next attack backfires, destroying her. Sokka knows he has killed but he doesn't care. He merely sobs openly and somehow, Korra knows this in not the first love he has lost.
Zuko attempts to comfort him but the moment between them does not last as a muffled cry is heard from beneath the wreckage of the destroyed farm. Someone has survived.
They lift the destroyed wreckage to reveal a small boy, no older than eight. His face is so immensely burned that Zuko does not feel the weight of his scar for the first time in years. If they listened closely, they would have heard the boy struggling to gasp out one word: "benders."
The scene shifts to a New Republic hospital sometime later where water benders work to heal the boy's serious wounds. Aang and Katara have just arrived from taking down some of the thugs that the Dark Elements have in their employ and it doesn't take long for Katara to take charge. If anyone can help the boy, it's the best healer in the world. While Katara works, her husband discusses recent events with Zuko.
"I should have been there" the Air Nomad Avatar laments "you could have needed an extra fire bender to turn the tides." "I don't think it could have made much of a difference" Zuko replied "their fire bending wasn't normal. Even my Uncle, Father, and Azula combined were never that strong and Combustion Man was the result of techniques that haven't been used in years. Something's not right here."
"Yes, I sensed something out of the ordinary when we first arrived." Aang agrees "if we want to bring down the rest of the Syndicate, I may need to consult Avatar Roku on their abilities." Aang then notices Sokka is sitting alone and excuses himself to go comfort his grieving brother-in-law.
"She would be proud of you Sokka" the Air Nomad Avatar begins "you took down a dangerous woman and saved countless potential victims in the process. Good thing you have experience with three eyed fire benders huh?" Aang immediately regrets his bad attempt to lighten the mood. It seems having Sokka as a brother-in-law has caused him to rub off on the younger man.
"I took a life for revenge" Sokka grunted bitterly "aren't you gonna lecture me on peaceful Air Nomad ethics?" Aang does not answer at first. Though using energy bending to remove an enemy's bending abilities is still his preferred means of stopping a villain, he has matured over the years and as new threats to the balance of the world arose, he has seen more than once that sometimes there is no other option but to take a life.
"Not this time buddy" Aang says after a moment "these days; I can't be certain I wouldn't have done the same thing. I meant it when I said you did well." It takes a moment but the light does return to Sokka's eyes and he smirks. "Glad to see I rubbed off on you a bit. Maybe now I can convince you to eat meat once in a while." "Don't push it."
Both men laughed heartily at this until Katara entered the room with a grave expression on her face. "How is he?" Aang asked, concern lacing his tone. Though he didn't know the boy, his heart aches for him. None more than Aang knew what it was like to lose your family.
"He's stable and should be waking up by now but the scars can't ever be healed" Katara reported "I doubt even Spirit Water could help him now." "Can I see him?" "Of course sweetie but why?" Aang sighed. "I just think he needs to know that things will be okay and things like this will never happen again."
Katara isn't too certain but nods anyways and leads her husband into the operating room. The young scarred boy is indeed awake but his disfigured features are set in a blank look, as if he was in shock. This changes however when Aang enters the room. Almost instantly, his scarred features twist into a scowl so ugly and filled with hate that both husband and wife become frightened.
"You" the boy hisses in a scratchy voice filled with venom "benders! You benders did this! You killed my family!" Katara moves forward to try comforting the clearly traumatized boy but finds her hand slapped away and the boy's gaze fixed on her.
"Your kind live to dominate people who can't bend! The Dark Elements are living proof! You only saved the world from Fire Lord Ozai so you could have it for yourself! The whole United Republic's a lie!"
"Hey kid, calm down!" Katara snaps hotly "I know what you're going through but that does not give you the right to lash out! " Though the boy's words shock her, she attempts to be firm and adapts the same look she sometimes uses to discipline her kids. The boy merely laughs however, a cold and humorless chuckle.
"Oh please! Everyone thinks you're so sweet but I know what you can really do! I know all about blood bending!
Katara went pale. No one should have known about that horrible skill. Hama was dead and Katara swore no one else would know blood bending existed for as long as she lived. "You love being able to control people, don't you!" The boy accused "I'll bet you even use it on your kids all the time! Some mom you are!"
That did it. Katara broke down and began crying. To have her darkest secret known was one thing, but to be accused of abusing her own children, whom she loved more than anything, was another. Aang was angry now. "Little boy, I've had just about enough! How dare you accuse my wife after she saved your life! "
The boy turned his sneer towards Aang. "Oh look, it's the king of all benders. You're supposed to keep the world in balance but you don't care about anyone who can't bend, you only protect your own kind! That's the real reason you vanished during the Hundred Year War and that's why you let the Dark Elements abuse us for so long!"
Aang doesn't respond. He can't for fear of losing control. Already, he is fighting to keep the Avatar State from activating out of anger. He would never have thought a child could anger him this way but this is no ordinary child.
"The spirits spoke to me" the boy continued "they know how you failed the world and one day, it will be up to me to make things right, to make things equal!" Aang ignores the boy's rant but turns towards a metal bender cop that walks down the hall. "Take this boy into police custody and see if you can get him the help he needs. He's clearly unstable." The cop nods and grabs the boy. He doesn't struggle but his ranting continues even as he is lead from the room. "Just you wait, one day there won't be any Avatars or benders! Everyone will be equal!"
The last sentence shocks Korra back to the present and echoes in her mind. Aang looks to her and said "I have to go. I've spent too much time in the physical world already." "You can't!" Korra protested "I have to know what happened!" "You will" Aang reassured "Tarrlok will keep you here until he can meet with Amon. Contact me again tomorrow night and everything will be explained. Stay strong Avatar Korra."
Aang began to vanish despite his successor's protests. "Wait!" She bellowed "how do I get out of here!" But the female Avatar is now alone with only her thoughts. Chief among them are who was that boy and why did he seem so familiar?
AN: My apologies for the long wait for this chapter but the next will be up sooner. In case anyone didn't know, this fic is AU and doesn't follow what was revealed about Amon in the finale, which I will also create a rewrite of one day. Big thanks to Silver Omega 01 and anyone who faved or alerted.
