Seven Steps to Heaven
By Nikkel
(c) to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko

Thought

"There's only one more step, you say?"

We were standing at the edge of a cliff. Down below us, the ocean waves crashed against the rocks. If either of us fell, we would die.

Aang, beside me, nodded. "Yes. And it's the most difficult step to take."

A crab-gull flew above our heads, crying of an impending storm.

"Why is that?" I asked. The other steps had been difficult as well, and I couldn't help but wonder how this one would be different.

"It involves letting go of everything you have," Aang replied in a somber tone. "For me, it was my friends, and the girl I love."

"Well, unlike you, I don't think I have much to let go of," I answered, looking at my palms, and then at the cloudy grey sky. "My crown was dishonored. My friends will never look at me the same way again. My father no longer respects me. My bending . . . is even useless."

"But look at what you've become," Aang interjected. "You don't need all of that anymore. All of it was just blocking you from who you really are."

I glanced at him in his pale yellow robes, a symbol of his wisdom beyond years. "You think that?"

"I know that." He smiled.

I faced the sea again. "I'm not so sure."

"Azula," Aang said importantly, making me listen. "If I had taken you out here to the cliff the first day I saw you, what do you think you would have tried to do?"

"I would have probably tried to push you off . . . or I would have jumped."

The stormy wind whipped in my face. It was like a slap of truth, sudden and harsh and salty, that I had not realized until this very moment.

"Would you still do that?" Aang asked.

"No. I wouldn't."

"See? You're a different person now. You've let go of who you once were."

He said that way, so simple and true. My insides clenched. I turned and said to him, "Come here."

He took a step closer, and I grabbed him to me. I was hugging the Avatar.

"Thank you . . . Aang."

Author's Note: Aang had trouble letting go of Katara because he loved her, and Azula had trouble letting go of herself and all her beliefs. She needed to give them up in order to redeem herself. Makes sense, right? I hope so. . . anyways, Happy Halloween! And once again, this entire ficlet is dedicated to my good friend Passionworks :D