Before you guys start reading, I'd like to say something. Everyone who reads and reviews my stories does a lot for me, and I'm very thankful for it. But I would like to ask for one small thing. My cousin, who has had lukemia in the past, recently went in for surgery on his lung. They found that the cancer spread into his bloodstream, and he now has to go for more treatments. If you could, please, regardless of whatever higher power you believe in, put in a word for him when you pray. Thank you. And as always, enjoy the story.

Chap. 25

Chakras and Hearts

"You have done well Aang." Guru Pathnik said, as he sat cross-legged on a stump, Aang sitting below him. "We have been training for less then two weeks, and you have already opened most of your chakras. Opening but one is difficult for any man. You have right to be pleased with yourself. But do not grow too confident my young friend. There is still one more charka that lies for you to open. Are you prepared for the task of opening it?"

"I am ready, Guru Pathnik." Aang replied. Pathnik smiled at the young Avatar; he had instructed many in his century and a half on this earth, but he had never seen a pupil like Aang before. The rate at which Aang had opened his chakras was faster then any of Pathik's students in the past. What made it even more amazing was that Aang had made such progress despite his simultaneous Firebending training.

It is fortunate that he is an Airbender. They have always been the most spiritual of all the peoples. Pathnik thought to himself. Looking back to Aang, he said, "Once you have opened this charka, you will be able to enter the Avatar State at will, and have full awareness and control of yourself while within it. If you are ready, Aang, we shall begin…."

"All right, that is enough." Iroh said, as Trueno and Jhee picked themselves up off the ground. The two warriors nodded, then bowed to one another in respect.

"All those who participated today were quite masterful." Iroh said, as Jhee rejoined the troops. "Even if you lost to Trueno, you have no reason to feel shame. You were all able to hold your own against him, and there is no disgrace in losing to a better opponent. There is only shame if you do not learn from your defeats and improve upon your efforts. Is that understood?"

The troops let out a collective nod, and Iroh continued to speak. But within the ranks of soldiers, Azula muttered to herself, and rubbed her injured shoulder. Trueno's submission hold had not been enough to separate her shoulder, but it had been enough to strain it. Though the ram had offered to heal it, Azula had refused his help, and been left to suffer on her own. She had returned to the ranks and watched as Trueno continued to take on soldiers. Trueno had won many of the battles, but he had also lost a few as well. Every battle had been hard fought and difficult, but Azula did not take any pleasure from them, no matter their outcomes. If Trueno won, she felt anger and jealousy at his skill. If he lost, she was angry with herself at not being able to defeat him. But what made it even worse was watching Ty Lee and Mai fight, and win, their battles. It was maddening for Azula, who had always prided herself on perfection. She had always come on top in her fights, never backing down and never giving ground. Now she stood here, beaten by her own admission, the knowledge of which hurt even more then her shoulder.

But though Azula's mind was primarily focused on her current state of affairs, a few words from her brother were able to bring her attention back.

"Now that we've shown you how to fight on your own, we want to try a new exercise that will build on teamwork." Zuko explained. "The purpose of the Army is to bring together different peoples and have them fight as one. Therefore, General Iroh and I have spoken to the other sections of the Army and we will be joining them in the field near the encampment for a special training regiment. Now, let's move out."

Zuko and Iroh turned towards the field and began to walk, as the troops began to follow. As Azula walked along, she cradled her shoulder and wondered if she had made the right decision in coming here at all.

"The final chakra is called the Thought charka." Pathnik said, as he and Aang began to meditate." "It is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment. Meditate on what attaches you to this world, Aang. Envision it clearly in your mind."

Aang closed his eyes and breathed deeply, as he began to empty his mind of all distractions and focus on Pathnik's task. He began to reflect on all the things that were important to him in this world. He began to see all of them clearly in his mind's eye, growing more and more focused with every second. But then, something else came into view. A figure began to appear, slowly walking in from the emptiness. As it came closer, it grew in focus, until Aang could finally see it. He smiled as Katara reached out for him with her hand. Aang reached out and took it, drawing Katara in close to him. The two stood there, looking deep into each other's eyes, seeing the immense love they felt for each other.

"Do you see it Aang? Do you see that which attaches you to this world?" Pathnik's voice asked from somewhere.

"Yes." Aang replied, as he drew his fingers through Katara's hair.

"Good. Now that you see them, let all of those attachments go. Let them flow down the river. Forgotten."

"Here they come." Tierra said, looking up at the Firebenders coming towards the field.

"About time." Bosque said, getting to his feet.

"I'm still unsure about what it is you plan to do." General How said, as the Earth and Waterbenders stood up and moved into formation behind them.

"We told you, it's an obstacle course." Desierto replied.

"But there's no course." Ozena argued. "What do you expect the troops to do?"

"You'll see." Agua replied, as he and Fuego watched the Firebenders arrive. How and Ozena moved up and stood before the group.

"General Iroh, Lieutenant Zuko, Firebenders, we of water and earth give you greeting." Ozena said, as he and How bowed to them.

"We of fire return your greetings, Generals How and Ozena." Iroh said, as he and Zuko bowed in response. "Are your soldiers prepared?"

"That they are. Shall we begin?" How asked.

"I think so." Iroh said, as he and Zuko moved to stand next to Ozena and How.

"Waterbenders, move into rank next to the Firebenders." Ozena ordered.

"Earthbenders, the same." How said.

Moving quickly, the soldiers moved their ranks to the side of the Firebenders, so that three different squadrons stood next to each other.

"Now, the purpose of this exercise is for all you to learn how to work together as one functioning unit." How began. "You will all need to depend on one another to successfully raid the Fire Nation."

"Therefore, you will all be placed into groups of three, with one member from the Water, Fire, and Earth Nations." Ozena said. "Each group will compete to obtain the medallions from that tree there." He finished, pointing to a large tree in the background, with an arrow stuck in its trunk. A pair of gold medallions dangled from the arrow's shaft.

"That doesn't seem so hard." A voice called out from the Water squadron.

"That's where we come in." Agua said, as he and his brothers stepped into view. "As you move to the tree, we will be setting up obstacles for you to overcome. All of them will be different, and each will require the skills of a different Nation. Only by using every member to their fullest can each team hope to complete the course."

"Now, we generals have gone over each of your abilities and placed you in a team." Iroh said, as he pulled out a long list. "As we call your name, please come up and move into formation."

As Iroh began to call names, Azula frowned at this new development. Now she was expected to work with names pulled at random? How could she be expected to do well with such insanity? She did not even know if she would be placed with skilled warriors or complete fools. And the fact that those names would be of Earth and Water made it quite likely that she would be stuck with the latter. Before she could muse on it further, Azula heard her name called. Moving silently, she exited the ranks and walked up to the front. But when she got there, her eyes went wide at the sight of one of her teammates.

"You?" she blurted out.

"Well, I see this will be fun for both of us." Jin replied, her voice dripping sarcasm.

Azula mentally cursed her bad luck, then turned to see who had been chosen from the Water squadron. He appeared to be a non-descript Water-tribesman, not much older then the Avatar's friend Sokka. He looked rather handsome, but Azula could already see something in his face that told her he would be trouble, a look of arrogance and self-assurance that clung to him like cheap cologne.

"This cannot get any worse." Azula muttered to herself, as the generals finished the teams and Ozena called out, "All right, who would like to go first?"

"We'll go." The Water tribesman said, the arrogance on his face evident in his voice. Azula and Jin both gaped at his haughtiness, but Ozena merely gave a nod and instructed them to get to ready. As the three of them moved into position, the Water-tribesman leaned over and whispered, "Look, you ladies just listen to Hahn and we'll get through this easy, all right?"

Both girls immediately rolled their eyes, just as Iroh called out, "GO!"

Aang's eyes snapped open and he stared at Pathnik in disbelief.

"You want me to what?" He blurted out. "Why would I let go of Katara? I...I..I love her."

"Learn to let her go, or you cannot let the pure cosmic energy flow in from the universe." Pathnik explained calmly.

But Aang was not convinced. "Why would I choose cosmic energy over Katara? How could it be a bad thing that I feel an attachment to her? Three chakras ago, that was a good thing."

"I know this is not easy Aang, but if you want to open this chakra, you must resign yourself of that which ties you to the mortal plane." Pathnik explained. "You must learn to let go."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let go of Katara."

"Aang, to master the Avatar State, you must open all the chakras. Surrender yourself."

Aang sighed, and with a look of great uncertainty on his face, began to try. In his mind, he returned to his embrace of Katara. He looked deep into her eyes once more, taking in all the love that she had for him. Then, he gently broke the embrace and turned his back to her. He could feel the confusion and hurt from her, but still he refused to turn, as before him, a great staircase of light began to appear. Aang began to move towards it, leaving Katara behind him. He reached it and began to climb, going higher and higher with each step. As he neared the top, Aang looked up and gasped at the sight. He saw a huge figure at the top of the stairs, made of pure energy, and shaped just like Aang, complete with glowing tattoos. The figure looked towards Aang, and held out its hands, waiting for the young Avatar to come to it. Aang nodded, and began to climb the stairs faster.

But as he came within two steps of the figure, he heard a shout from the ground. He turned around in surprise, only to see Katara at the bottom, calling for his help, as Fire Nation soldiers surrounded her. As they closed in on her, she called out his name, begging for him to come to her.

Aang hesitated on the stairs, looking first to Katara, then to the figure. He stood there, torn between the two, until Katara let out a scream of pain, as one of the soldiers let loose a fireblast that quickly engulfed her. Eyes widening in horror, Aang began to run down the stairs, screaming her name. But as he ran, the stairs began to fade away under his feet, until they vanished completely and Aang began to fall…..

With a gasp, Aang opened his eyes and looked around, making sure that he was safe. He then looked up at Guru Pathnik, who merely shook his head sadly at the young Avatar.

The trio quickly began to race across the field, moving closer and closer to the tree and medallions.

"See, this isn't so hard. Just try to keep up with me." Hahn gasped as he ran.

"Right." Jin muttered, as she began to scan the area, looking for anything that could pose a threat to them. Unlike Hahn, she was quite aware that the Elementals could throw some very hard punches their way, and that they had to be ready for them. As Jin kept her eyes open, she saw that Azula was doing the same thing. At least she's not that stupid. Jin thought, as they kept running. The tree wasn't all that far off now; soon they'd be there. But suddenly, the ground under their feet began to rumble, and then with a concussive blast, the ground before them cracked open and red-hot lava began to spew outwards. They halted in their tracks, but the cracks spread around them, until a ring of lava surrounded them.

"What the…. How can they do this?" Hahn gaped in amazement. "Earthbenders and Firebenders can't do this."

"They're not normal benders, dum-dum." Azula snapped. "Now quit gaping and start figuring out how to get us out of this."

"Hey! You don't talk to me like that!" Hahn snapped, getting right in Azula's face.

"I'll talk to you however I want." Azula snapped back. "I'm royalty, and I have the most experience here."

"Oh, forgive me Princess." Hahn said mockingly. "I'll just get your carriage ready so you can ride over the lava on our backs."

As Azula and Hahn continued to argue, Jin sighed and began to put her own plan into effect. Reaching behind her back, she withdrew a short metal rod from her belt. Pressing a button on the handle, the rod extended into a long staff. Hierro and Zuko had designed the weapon for her after she'd entered the Army, and this seemed the best time to test it. Ignoring the arguments, Jin took a few steps back and then began to run, holding the staff in front of her. At just the right moment, she dropped it and using it as a fulcrum to push herself over the lava. Turning around, she saw Azula and Hahn still arguing.

"Hey!" Jin yelled. At the sound of her voice, both of them turned around and saw her on the other side. Without a word, Jin tossed them her staff and stood back. Azula and Hahn stopped arguing and began to use the staff to escape the lava ring. Once the both of them were safe, Jin took her staff back and they began to run for the tree again. But as they came close, Hahn suddenly yelled out and stopped short. Jin stopped to help, but Azula kept on running. However, she only got a few more feet before a huge wall of vines suddenly sprang out from the surrounding trees. As Azula watched, the trees themselves actually bent down and shielded the vines with their branches. Behind her, Jin saw that Hahn's foot had become trapped in a piece of rock that actually grown up from the ground. Pulling out her staff, Jin began to pound on the rock, as Azula pointed her finger at the wall and began to burn it away.

With a few hard hits, the rock crumbled away and Hahn was free. He immediately ran forward, pulled out a long knife and began to cut away at the vines with Azula. Jin moved to help them but as she ran forward, she suddenly sank, as the ground beneath her feet had changed into quicksand. She struggled to get out, but her movements only made the process happen faster. Azula heard her cries, but continued to burn the leaves. Hahn kept cutting, but then the vines shot out again, and snatched the knife from his hand. Before he could react, the tree branches came down and wrapped themselves around him. Hahn became trapped inside the bark, unable to escape. But still, Azula kept burning. Finally, she got through it and ran for the tree.

As she reached it, a smile grew on her face; it was time for her to finally have some redemption. So great was her feeling of accomplishment, that she failed to notice the ground in front of her. Suddenly, Azula was ankle-deep in mud. She started to pull herself out, but then the mud burbled up and splashed all over her hands and mouth. A second later, it had hardened into stone, both trapping her and rendering her unable to firebend. Suddenly, the vines from the tree draped down, wrapped around Azula's arms, and pulled her out and up. Azula hung upside down in the tree by her stone covered feet. Behind her, Jin had sunk up to her neck, and Hahn was stuck in the bark.

Azula made muffled curses under her breath, as Desierto and Bosque walked up to her teammates. With a wave of their hands, the trees released Hahn and Jin stopped sinking into the sand. As Azula began to lower from the tree, Iroh and Ozena walked over. Looking at the group, Ozena said, "You have failed. You could barely work together, and were selfish and thoughtless in your actions, save Jin." "Azula, Hahn, you will be placed on k.p. duty. Hopefully, you can learn to work together there. Jin, since you showed selflessness towards your teammates, we will not punish you." Iroh said. Both Azula and Hahn groaned, as they looked at each other in disgust.