Title: Light
Author: Red Hawk K'sani
Word Count: 273
Warnings: MEGA HUGE SPOILER WARNING FOR CITY OF WALLS AND SECRETS! And creepiness, too.
Challenge: Written in response to the new episode
Characters/Pairings: Aang
"We do not speak of the war in Ba Sing Se."
The words even still silenced him, shocked him. The explanation of Long Feng's utopian city… It made no sense. It was utter madness.
It had to be stopped.
Aang clenched his fist tightly, a new determination settling within him. He would change the city. He would tell the people. He would set the people free. He had to resist. To fight for the people.
"There is no war, Avatar Aang, and that is why it is not spoken of."
He squeezed his eyes shut. He had to fight. He had to avenge all those people whose minds Long Feng had twisted with. That Long Feng had betrayed. Those people were relying on Aang, though they knew it not.
"Please, relax, Avatar. You are safe now."
The droning voice created a throbbing pulse in his head, repeating a mantra that wasn't his own, that shouldn't be repeated: You are safe. You are safe. You are safe.
His own willpower didn't falter either, though: I have to fight. I have to resist!
He blinked and the lights spun in his vision, his eyes cloudy, his vision blurred, and still he called to himself: I have to fight. I must resist!
"Avatar Aang, do not be afraid, for there is nothing to be afraid of. There is no war. You are perfectly safe."
His eyes grew distant, dark, not themselves. He was trying so hard to resist, and he was so afraid, but it was too much. Too much, too much!
"You are safe."
He looked into the light and was lost to the world.