Chap. 43

Destiny Met

The Fire Army had been pushed back to the limit of their territory. As the Army of the Avatar had pressed their advantage during Black Sun, the Fire Army had lost most of their weapons and vehicles, along with their Firebending skills. It had raged on for a bit longer, but then finally the general, realizing he was outmatched and out of back-up (Ozai had deployed the entire local army, save his own royal guard) had sent up the white flag, surrendering the capital to the Army of the Avatar. And yet, the surrender had been met with cheers from the people of the city, the people who had been trampled by the Fire Army, and saved by those they considered enemies. Therefore, as the Army surrendered, they heard the people cheer, and wonder if they had sacrificed themselves for nothing.

Yet, as the Fire Army yielded and gave up what weapons they had left, uneasiness still lingered in the hearts of the Army of the Avatar. They only had a few minutes left before the eclipse ended, and their enemies would regain their power. Though they were in thrall now, there was no telling what might happen when that happened. The only thing that could stop that from happening was the capture of the Fire Lord. But Aang and the others had not yet returned from the palace, had not yet shown they had even gotten to Ozai. And so, as the moments passed, everyone could feel their fears begin to grow a bit more.

No one felt those fears more then Katara. As she looked on at the palace, she clasped and unclasped her hands, as her face became a mask of fear. What was happening in there? Aang and the others should have been able to take down a powerless Ozai by now? Was he all right? Had something happened? Did they miscalculate somehow? Had the Royal guards taken them down? Those and a thousand more questions ran through Katara's mind as she stared at the palace.

"C'mon Aang, please." She whispered, as she mentally recalled every prayer she knew of.

So involved was she in her turmoil, that Katara didn't hear Toph and Sokka approaching from behind. Even so, they could see the stress she was under. As they moved closer, Sokka gently reached out with his hand and touched his sister's shoulder. Katara stiffened instantly, then turned to face them.

"It's ok Katara." Sokka said soothingly. "Aang's fine. He's got Zuko and Azula with him, plus Oscuridad and Luz. If that isn't enough to take down Ozai, nothing is."

"Besides, Twinkle-toes learned plenty from you and me." Toph added. "How could he fail with that kind of instruction?"

Katara smiled a little at that, but her eyes steadily drifted back to the palace, waiting for some kind of sign, of anything that would let her know things were ok. But Katara's sign was just about to arrive, even though she didn't realize it.

Suddenly, the ground rocked, as a huge explosion burst out of the central building of the palace. The trio struggled to keep their balance as the land flexed and bounced with the reverberations. The members of the Army and the civilians grabbed onto whatever they could to stay upright. But after a few moments, the rumblings subsided. Katara and the others instantly looked up to see what had happened, only to gasp in horror at what they saw. The central tower of the Fire Palace had been reduced to rubble; some remnants of its walls still stood, but it was undeniably destroyed. Debris was all around, some even falling to the earth from the sky, onto the piles of stone and brick that had made up the palace. Katara stared at the rubble for a second, then screamed out, "AANG!!" and began to run towards the palace, Toph and Sokka following suit. Behind them, Iroh, Jin, Ty Lee, Mai, and the remaining Knights followed suit, fear evident on all their faces.

Katara raced ahead of everyone, leaping up the main stairway to the palace doors, pushing them aside in her fear. Speeding through the hallways, she followed the smell of smoke, until she came upon the place where the main tower had once stood. The hallway leading to it was covered with rubble, but Katara took no heed, pushing and twisting through it as though it did not exist, until she reached the doorway that had led to the tower. The stairway had given way, littering the space where the remains of the tower now laid. Katara finally halted then, as she looked up the rubble for something, any sign of life, any sign that things could be saved. But all she saw was rubble and destruction.

But what she heard was completely different. Katara whipped her head around as she heard the sound of stone shifting and moving. Running towards the sound, Katara found Azula about ten feet to the right. The Princess's clothes were torn and tattered, as well as covered with soot, but she was still able to help pull Oscuridad out of the rubble. As the bat emerged from the wreckage, Katara called out to them.

"Azula! Oscuridad! What happened?"

"Huh.. Katara!" The bat said, as Azula helped him to his feet. "Did the Army succeed?"

"Yes, everything's taken care of. What happened in here? Where's Aang?"

"We're not sure." Azula answered. "We were fighting my father. He still had his Firebending; apparently my great-grandfather kept a piece of Sozin's Comet for the power it gave him, and passed it down through the family."

"Ozai was using it to heal himself as well as keep his firebending." Osc continued. "Even the Almagan wasn't enough to stop him. Then he went to face Aang. He went into the Avatar State and then…"

"What? What happened?" Katara pressed, as behind her, Sokka and the others entered the scene. Sokka instantly embraced Azula, thankful that she was alive. Azula returned the embrace, then after assuring him she was ok, continued speaking.

"I-I don't know what happened. I saw them go at each other, then Aang went into some kind of Earthbending pose, and then next thing I knew, the world caved in."

"But that doesn't make sense. How did this happen?" Katara exclaimed.

"We heard an explosion outside." Mai added. "Earthbending doesn't do that."

"It wasn't Earthbending." A voice said suddenly from behind them. The group turned to see Zuko and Luz approach, covered in dust and bruised, but still alive. Jin instantly ran to Zuko and leapt into his arms. He staggered back, but managed to hold her, as Osc slowly moved over to Luz. But the reunions were dampened by Katara's insistence to find out what happened with Aang.

"Zuko, what did you see? What was it if it wasn't Earthbending?"

"He made some move to get my father's pendant." Zuko said. "I saw his hand reach for it, saw the glow start to increase. My father gave out a yell and then the tower fell on us."

"Then it was Ozai." Iroh said. "My brother sacrificed himself rather then be defeated."

"But where's Aang?" Katara cried out. "Where the hell is he? We didn't go through all this to lose him, so where is he?"

But despite all Katara's questions, no one had any answers. As her gaze fell on each of them, they turned away, or looked at the ground, knowing the truth, but unable to actually say it. And by looking at them, Katara saw the truth too. But she refused to acknowledge it.

"No! Goddamit no! He can't be gone! He can't!"

"Katara…" Oscuridad began. "He was the Avatar. He was here to put the balance back. And sometimes, fulfilling your destiny comes at the cost of…"

"Don't say it!" Katara screamed, whirling around to face the bat. "It isn't true! It can't be! He's here somewhere, and you won't help me, I'll find him on my own!"

With that, Katara moved to a large pile of rubble and began to pull it apart, calling out Aang's name as she searched. The others all looked at each other, not sure of what to do, not sure if they should stop. But after a moment, Sokka slowly made his way over to his sister. As she grabbed a large rock and started to move it, he knelt down and pressed the rock back down. Katara snarled at him, and tried to move the rock away, but Sokka kept pressing down. Katara kept trying but slowly, her anger began to dissipate, her efforts to weaken, until finally, she let go of the rock. She stood there a moment, then collapsed onto her knees and fell into Sokka's arms, weeping furiously. The others stood silently, letting their grief silently fill them.

But the silence only lasted a minute, as a large pile of rocks suddenly burst apart from a huge blast of wind. Everyone whirled around to see the battered figure of Aang slowly pull himself out of the rubble.

"AANG!!" Katara yelled, as she burst out of Sokka's arms and ran over to Aang. The Avatar looked up at her approach, and gave a wan smile as she grabbed him and embraced him. The others followed and grinned as Katara hugged him hard enough to press all the air out of him.

"Katara….. need…. Air." Aang wheezed gently.

"Oh, sorry!" Katara said, quickly loosening her grasp. Aire quickly moved over to take Aang from her and check on his injuries.

"Ha ha, I should've known you'd find a way to survive." Osc said gleefully.

"Yeah, you should've." Katara said, glaring at the bat.

"I almost didn't." Aang said. "When the tower blew, I was thrown through a ton of rubble. But I was able to gather some earth around me and make an earthshield."

"See, I knew I taught you well." Toph said.

"Yeah. Besides, Arrow-head's too cute to die." Ty Lee giggled.

"Indeed." Iroh added dryly. "Thanks to that training, you managed to stop the Fire Lord and survive, Aang."

"Yeah. I did stop him, didn't I?" Aang said thoughtfully.

"If you didn't, I'll go eat a badger-rat." Sokka said.

"Then…… you'd….. better…… starting looking for one." A voice said suddenly.

Aang's eyes widened in shock, as everyone whipped around to see Ozai standing before them. His body was covered in wounds and his clothes stained with blood, but as everyone looked on, his body began to close the wounds.

"Jesus Christ, why won't you die?" Luz spat.

"Because no mere man can kill a god." Ozai spat back. "Not even a Knight of the Elements can kill a god."

"You're not a god." Aang said, as he slowly rose to his feet, pushing Aire and Katara aside. "This is going to end Ozai. You and I are going to settle this, now and forever."

"Fine then." The Fire Lord said, moving into an attack stance. "Then let's finish this, Avatar."

Aang nodded, and moved into his own stance. The two slowly began to circle each other, partly out of pain. Both stared each other down, waiting for the right moment, waiting for the chance to strike at their enemy. Actually, that wasn't true. Aang wasn't looking for a chance to strike Ozai. But he was looking to defeat him. While in the Avatar State, Aang had the wisdom of all the previous Avatars flowing through him, and for the first time in his life, he'd been able to understand it and remember it. And during that time, the Avatars had stressed the words of Guru Pathnik, words Aang had understood just in time. He had tried to act on them before, but that had led to Ozai bringing down the tower on him. But this time things would be different.

As Aang waited for the moment to put his plan into action, Ozai tired of waiting, and made the first move, sending a wave of fire towards the young Airbender. But Aang was well prepared and brought up the earth in a protective shield the flame splattered harmlessly against. Enraged, Ozai let loose a second blast, but this time, Aang leapt up over the earth and let loose with a fireball of his own. It splattered right in front of Ozai, forcing him to step back. Aang quickly used the opportunity and let loose with an airblast that knocked the Fire Lord back even further. But Ozai would not go down so easily, as he snapped a huge flame whip forth. But Aang was ready for that as well. He glanced over at Katara, and the water in her holder leapt out to him. Gathering it together, he used it as a waterwhip to counteract the flame, then sent it down at Ozai. Before the Fire Lord knew what was happening, he found his hands encased in blocks of solid ice. He instantly began to melt them, but before he could finish, Aang delivered a hard kick to the Fire Lord, knocking him down as Aang flipped over his body and landed on his feet behind him.

"Well done, Avatar." Ozai sneered. "But one blow does not grant victory."

"This one does." Aang said. With that, he held up the pendant that he had procured from the Fire Lord during his flip. Ozai gasped in shock and then growled as he attempted to charge Aang. But the earth around him suddenly rose up and wrapped around his legs, holding him in place.

"You forgot something Ozai." Aang said, as he held out the pendant. "You, your father, and your grandfather. You forgot the most important lesson there is. No matter what Nation we come from, no matter what element we bend, we are all connected. We are all the same people."

"And this," he said as he pointed to the pendant. "is connected too. It's not from this word, but it's still earth. And that means, I am connected to it."

With that, Aang's hand suddenly tightened as he forced his will upon the pendant. As Ozai watched, the rock slowly began to shift, to move, as the Avatar manipulated it. Suddenly, the rock broke apart, revealing a cloud of green glowing gas. It held the shape of its container a moment, then dissipated into the winds.

"NNNNOOOOO!!!" Ozai screamed, as he watched the source of his strength and power vanish. Raising up his ice covered hands, he prepared to bring them down up the head of his enemy. But before he could, he felt several sharp blades poke into his back.

"Don't even think about it." Fuego said, pressing his spear even deeper into the Fire Lord's back. As the red man, Osc, Agua, Luz, and Sokka held Ozai at bay, Aang looked at the string he know held in his hands, then looked over at his friends, their faces filled with pride and joy. The Avatar looked back at them, and felt the same emotions touch his own face. His duty, his destiny, were finally complete.

"Look, someone's coming!"

"Is it…. Dear Ruta, it is! It's them! And they've got him!"

"The Fire Lord! They've captured the Fire Lord!"

The word spread quickly through the Army, and they let out cheers of ecstasy and satisfaction, seeing the fruit of their labors come at last. Aang walked out from the palace, his friends at his side, as the crowd cheered him on. Even the townspeople were happy, now that they knew the kind of man the Fire Lord was. The group saluted the Army before them, except for Hierro, who was dragging the chained form of Ozai behind him, while Fuego held his firebending in check now that the eclipse was over. As they came to the steps, the group was met by Hakoda, who clapped Aang on the back, then rushed to congratulate his children and tell them how proud he was of them. Iroh did the same for Zuko and Azula, who merely bowed in humble respect of their uncle. More old friends began to come up, to congratulate the ones who had finally brought an end to the war that some thought would never end. Everyone clapped each other on the back (and did more in some cases), congratulations were heard all around, and for once, everything looked as though it was going to be perfect.

That is, until Toph voiced the question, "So what happens now?"

At that, most of the merriment halted. The heroes began to look around then, as the impact of that questions began to dawn on them.

"By Darya, we must've wrecked half the city!" Zuko groaned as he looked around.

"And we still have to convince the rest of the Fire Nation to follow Zuko." Iroh added.

"Not to mention getting the rest of the world to accept the Fire Nation again." Agua said.

"Wait, you mean you guys don't have a plan for this?" Sokka asked, facing the Knights. "I thought you had a plan for this!"

"Well we…" Oscuridad began, but then stopped. Slowly the bat held up his sword and looked the gemstone in its center. The gem was glowing with an unearthly black light. The other Knights glanced at their own weapons and saw their own stones glowing as well, each in their own specific color.

"We didn't have a plan Sokka." The bat said. "But I think we're about to get one."

Osc glanced at the other Knights, who quickly nodded in agreement. The group began to move towards the stairs, towards what remained of the doors. Once they were close enough, they moved in a horizontal formation, standing in a straight line. Each Knight held out their weapons, the stones glowing brightly. The light from the stones shone brighter and brighter, until it began to swirl around in strange patterns. Each one was different; Fuego's light seemed to move like flames, while Trueno's crackled like lightning. But as each light shone, they also began to take a shape, to form something from the dark. As everyone below watched, the lights finally stopped shifted, and faded away, but not without leaving something in their place. Where the lights had been, ten figures stood. Each one was robed and hooded in a robe the same color as the light that had spawned them. The Knights looked at these figures, then in unison sheathed their weapons, and knelt on one knee before them, bowing their heads in respect. As Aang and the others watched, Oscuridad spoke, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.

"We, your humble children, welcome you to this world, Mothers, Fathers. May you look upon your creation with favor, oh great Architects!"