Hello, beloved reader! So comes the the finale of the finale...sort of. There will be an epilogue, of course! So, you know how I promised to respond to reviews in this chapter? Can I do that next chappie? Pllleeeeasssse. I don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer! The epliogue should be up next weekend, so be looking forward to that! Now, enjoy the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own A: TLA, and I never have! Alas, this story as not gained the attention of Bryke. Hire me, Bryke!

Aang felt betrayed. The way stories made it sound, deaths were tragic, and yet they were poetic. The one dying would always have some sort of final words, a few minutes before he peacefully slipped into a permanent sleep. The person's loved ones would be able to speak with him one more time, have one final memory with their dying friend. A sense of finality. Closure.

Feng hadn't gotten that, not at all. He was alive, then he was dead. It had happened in a matter of seconds. Sure, he'd gotten his last words, but he had apologized. That was anything but closure. Aang wanted the chance to reply, to tell him it was okay. To tell him that he was a good man. Aang wanted to do all these things and more.

Aang didn't have very many reliable memories, and now that he had finally managed to build some with Feng, he couldn't get a finale with the man. He couldn't have one last memory, one last chance to make sure everything was right between them.

Why did I waste so much time?!

Aang was so wrapped up in his own little world that he hadn't even noticed the chaos that had erupted all around. The death of Feng had triggered something within each of the Contaminated. Not just the fact that he died, but the way he died. Feng had died for Aang. Feng had died for one of the Contaminated. Feng had died for one of them. Feng was a martyr for the Contaminated cause.

If Feng fought, they would fight too.

And so, a battle had commenced. One of the Contaminated had responded to Khon's display with an attack of his own, though who the person was no one could say. It was doubtful that even the person himself would remember he had done it, as he had most likely done it in a moment of pure, raw emotion. All that could be said for certain was Khon had ignited something within each of the Contaminated. Whether or not he would regret this had yet to be seen.

Toph, naturally, was the first of Team Avatar to recover from the shock that had overtaken them all. Of course, just because she was the first to recover didn't mean she recovered quickly. Indeed, she hadn't been able to process all of her emotions for what felt like days before she finally snapped out of it. Toph wasn't a long time friend of Feng's, but she liked to think that they had gotten to know each other a bit more during the time he had spent at the palace, and she had to admit that she considered him a friend. She had just watched that friend die, so naturally it was hard for her to focus on anything at that precise moment. Eventually though, she was able to process one emotion, and that was anger. It was this anger that would carry her through the battle.

So Toph was finally able to shake off her mental-paralysis, and, with a glance at the rest of her friends, she said, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to do something useful."

And off she went.

It was a confusing mesh of vibrations to Toph, and it took her a moment to get her bearings and figure out who the enemy was. Toph groaned. There's even more people than before! she thought.

There was reason for this. After the Contaminated had begun to fight back, Rebels and Dai Li agents had come pouring in to assist their leader. Even Azula's small group of Dai Li agents had come to her aid. Combine the amount of people with the fact that Contaminated battling could be quite unpredictable, and the battle was now the embodiment of the overall mood. Utter chaos.

Toph was able to sense the metal that Rebel uniforms were made out of, so now that she had a way to identify at least some of her enemies, she charged into battle, intent on using the anger that had come with the loss of a friend.

Back on Appa, Zuko looked at Sokka, "Got a plan, Idea Guy?"

"Fight. What else is there?" Sokka replied, voice full of both numbness and helplessness.

Zuko nodded, and looked hesitantly Aang, before shooting a glance at Katara. She nodded, answering Zuko's unspoken question. I'll take care of him, Zuko. Don't worry.

So Sokka and Zuko were the next ones to leap into the chaos, leaving Katara and Aang alone on Appa, Momo perched loyally on the monk's shoulder. Appa took the hint and ascended into the sky, away from the battle, if only for a brief second.

"Aang?" Katara asked hesitantly after a moment. The boy did not respond. He was staring at Feng's limp body. In fact, he'd been staring unblinkingly at the body since it first went limp, as if somehow his stare could bring life back to it.

Katara bit her lip, "Aang?" she tried again. Aang still did not respond, and with every second that passed where he wasn't responding, Katara grew more and more worried. Hesitantly, she approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Aang, in response, gave a startled jump, like he hadn't even realized Katara was there. The waterbender quickly withdrew her hand, but she did not back away, determined to stay near Aang at all costs. She didn't think anything good would happen if he were left alone.

Aang finally spoke, "He's...dead…"

How was Katara supposed to answer that? The girl wasn't sure, so she decided to just let Aang speak for now.

"He's dead...and I didn't get to say goodbye," said Aang, and whether he was talking to himself or Katara was a mystery to the waterbender. She glanced unsurely at him. What could she say? That Feng lived a long, happy life? Katara may have not known Feng that well, but she highly doubted his life was very happy, and as for long - well, the man looked to be in his early-thirties. That wasn't very long at all. Could she say he was in a better place? Well, yes, she could, but Katara was pretty sure Aang knew that in the back of his mind. Everyone knows that there loved ones end up in a better place, but that doesn't stop the pain of missing them. So what was Katara supposed to say?

Aang, oblivious to Katara's internal battle, continued, "He apologized...why did he have to apologize?! He died feeling guilty!" the airbender's voice had become harsh and bitter, "He apologized. How can that be his last moment? Feng deserved better! He deserved to know he was forgiven! He deserved to know that I forgave him!"

Quite suddenly, Aang found himself pouring out everything. He didn't know why he was letting everything slip, but he was. Maybe he just wasn't good at self-control, or maybe it had something to do with Katara being there. Whatever the reason, his firmly built wall had finally collapsed, "I just forgave Feng today, Katara! Today! That's one day of forgiveness, and who knows how many days of anger! How could he die so soon? How?! And he apologized! How could he apologize? It's not fair, Katara! We could've had years of friendship, but instead - instead…"

Aang trailed off, unable to put anymore of his feelings into words. He took a deep breath, and turned around to face Katara.

"He's dead, Katara….How?"

The tongue-tied Katara suddenly knew how to respond - not with words, but with action. She tackled Aang, hugging him as if her life depended on it. She channeled all of her feelings, everything she'd been feeling since the beginning of this awful tale all those months ago, and tried to convey them all in the hug. Aang clutched back, and in a few minutes, when they would finally break apart, it would only be physically. Mentally, they would still be hugging.

On the ground below, the battle had gotten very fierce very quickly. The Rebels and Dai Li agents had underestimated the fighting-ability of the Contaminated. Their moves mirrored the inner turmoil within each of them, wild and unpredictable, like a rampaging moose-lion. It was a stark contrast to Dai Li agents, whose fighting style was tailored to perfection. They fought almost like a single unit, one body with a hive mind. As for the Rebels, they were a cross between the two. They weren't as uniform as the Dai Li, but they were most certainly not as uncontrolled and sporadic as the Contaminated.

Zuko had decided to take on Admiral Khon, which was easier said than done. There were so many people in the compound, it was hard to locate anyone. He had already gotten separated from Sokka, and he had no idea where Toph was. Zuko scanned the area, but he could not find the leader of the Rebels. He had just about given up hope, when he was struck with a bit of luck. He found Toph.

Toph had been taking on several Dai Li agents at once, and she could tell they were Dai Li because of the way they moved - like earthbenders, but with elegance. An onslaught of boulders had been sent her way, but, being Toph Beifong, she had been able to block or dodge every single one, even managing to hurl a few back in the Dai Li's direction, before sending some of her own their way. However, as she became more and more invested in the battle in front of her, she hadn't been very careful when it came to what was behind her. It wasn't until she felt someone bump into her from behind that she turned around.

"Hey! Watch it!" she had been rather angry, when she figured out who exactly it was.

"Toph?" Zuko asked, sounding relieved.

"Oh! Zuko, it's you! You idiot! Start fighting!"

Zuko grimaced, but he was secretly happy that he had bumped into a familiar face. He answered her, "I'm trying to find Khon, but it's hard to find anyone at the moment!"

Toph snorted, "Please, I can help you with that. It may be a bit hard, but I can find anyone who walks on the ground! First, though, could you give me a hand with these Dai Li agents?"

Zuko grinned, and with a "yes" the two of them began fighting side by side. There were three Dai Li agents currently battling Toph. She focused on the one to her left, and slid the ground beneath him. The agent couldn't respond quickly enough, and he fell on his bottom. Toph then raised the ground beneath the man, confining him in a mound of earth. Toph smirked and searched for her next victim. Zuko had taken on the other two, and he was doing a magnificent job. He had managed to knock the one to Toph's right out with a well-aimed ball of fire. Toph focused on the final agent. He looked slightly petrified, but he remained firm. Zuko sent a stream of fire at the agent, who, in response, raised a slab of earth, which did its job in acting as a shield very well, completely deflecting the fire. Toph growled, wanting this battle to be over with. She stomped her feet on the ground and held her hands out in front of her. Her hands started to tremble, but she kept them raised, feeling every particle of earth below her. Then, she brought her hands together and down towards her stomach. The result was simple yet effective; a dust cloud had been created.

Zuko, in the meanwhile, had been distracting the Dai Li agent to give Toph the time she needed to make a dust cloud. Now, however, he wouldn't be able see, and he knew he would have to leave Toph to finish the job. This was not a problem at all, seeing as Toph was, well, Toph.

"Khon is over that way!" Toph shouted at him before leaping into cloud, pointing to her right, "That's all I can tell! Good luck!"

"You too!" said Zuko, and he took off in the direction Toph had pointed out, leaving the Blind Bandit to do what she did best.

It was hard work, but eventually, Zuko was finally able to track down Admiral Khon. He was just about to approach, when something stopped him in his tracks. In fact, it stopped everyone in their tracks, though for how long this pause in the battling would last was anyone's guess.

There in the sky, inside a sphere of rapidly spinning wind, was a boy with glowing tattoos. It was the Aang.

Fifteen minutes ago, on Appa…

Aang and Katara had broken apart, and now they were listening to the sounds of the battle below, like children staring at the water in a pool and contemplating whether or not to dive in. Katara would have joined in by then, but she didn't want to leave Aang alone on Appa. While no doubt the bison would take care of him, Aang needed someone to comfort him, not to mention the fact that the waterbender did not want to take her eyes off Aang, considering what had happened recently when it came to leaving the Avatar on his own. Also, the boy had too many injuries to count, and Katara wanted to keep an eye on them. No, she was not about to leave his side, not even for a second.

"Aang….you know you can't join the battle, right? You're too hurt," said Katara, and Aang nodded his head in agreement.

"I know. I don't think I'd be able to handle the battle, honestly. I'm both an emotional and physical wreck. Not a good combination."

Katara placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "That's okay. You did what you could. Now let them do the rest."

Aang growled, slightly annoyed at the fact that he couldn't help, even though he knew it was best that he didn't, "I just - I just wish I could honor Feng's memory. Everyone down there battling the Rebels is, but I can't do that! I'm not honoring Feng at all!"

"Aang, the best way for you to honor Feng's memory is to get your memory back, to recover from what the Dai Li did to you."

"And I can't do that either!" snapped Aang, "I can't do anything! I'm completely useless. Feng died for me, Katara. He pushed me out of the way, and I can't do anything. I'm worthless! He saved someone not worth saving!"

"Don't think of yourself like -"

"But it's true, Katara! I'm worthless in every single way! Why did Feng save me in the first place?! I'm not contributing much to the world, am I? I don't even know who I am!"

Katara made an attempt to hug him again, but Aang wrestled his way out of her grip.

"How?!" Aang demanded, but he wasn't sure from whom he was demanding, "How do I make sure that Feng didn't die in vain? How do I make it up to him?! How do I honor Feng?! All he ever wanted was for me to get better, and I can't even do that! How can I get better?! How do I fulfill Feng's last and only wish for me?!"

Survivor's guilt, Katara thought, and indeed, it was. Aang simply could not understand how he could live and Feng could die, when Feng could do so much good, and Aang could do nothing. In Aang's mind, there was simply no point in living now that Feng was gone. His one and only chance at ever being able to have a purpose in life was dead, leaving Aang to pointlessly wander around the earth, never having any meaning to his existence.

"It's not fair!" Aang shouted, "Why was I left behind? I can't do anything, not without Feng! He was the only way I could get back my memories! He was the only way any of the other Contaminated could heal! He could've made a difference! What can I do?!"

And then it happened.

Aang was crying for help, and his cry was so loud, so strong, that he was able to contact someone - someone who had been trying to contact him ever since their connection was broken months ago. Aang managed to find himself - well, another version of himself. He contacted Roku, but not just Roku. He contacted every single version of himself to have ever existing, drawing upon their strength, their knowledge, their energy.

It was all too much for him. He lost control, and all Katara could do was watch as his arrows lit up, and he lifted off Appa in a ball of spiraling wind.

Aang stayed levitated in the air for a few minutes, and it was enough to gather everyone's attention. All stopped battling, gazing up at the wonder that was Aang. Toph could not see her friend, but even she could feel the power radiating from him. It was enough for even her to get distracted. Aang made his move.

Like a bomb, Aang dropped to the ground. His feet collided first, and he rapidly brought his fists down to earth, sending tremors rippling like giant waves through the ground, knocking everyone off their feet. He rose to his own feet and lifted back into the air. His head snapped back, making it seem as though he was gazing upward, and he aimed his fists to his left and right. With a great roar, or perhaps it was a screech, fire erupted from his mouth and fists. His glowing eyes then gazed straight ahead unseeingly, proving that he had no idea what was happening around him, no control over whom he did and didn't hurt. At that moment, Aang was just as helpless to the wrath of the Avatar as the rest of them.

Dazed and confused, Aang was surrounded by whiteness. There was nothing else there - neither living nor inanimate. He looked around in all directions, but he could see no one else. He frowned.

"Hello?" he called out into the nothingness, "Is anyone here, and while we're at it, where is 'here,' exactly?"

To Aang's great surprise, it wasn't a voice that spoke back; it was many voices, the voices of every Avatar up to Roku, though Aang would only recognize Roku's voice in the throng.

"Aang!" the Avatar called, and the conjoint voices seemed to ring from all around him, "Aang, do you hear us?"

Aang, both terrified and curious, answered, "Y - yes! I hear you!"

"Aang!" the Avatar called again, "Listen! You have lost control of your physical body, for it has been overpowered by the energy of the Avatar. You must gain control of this energy, Aang!"

"But - but how?!" Aang asked.

"You have done it before," the Avatar responded, "Now you must do it again."

"Why is this so important?" Aang questioned.

"You could kill innocent people!"

Aang gaped, "What?! That's the one thing I've been trying to avoid doing ever since all this started! Why do you think I found it so hard to trust people?!"

"We know," said the Avatar, "We don't want any innocents to die. That is why you must regain control of your body. You must channel the energy of the Avatar, before it is too late!"

"I - I can't!" Aang shouted. He continued desperately, "Please, I don't know how! I need your help! I can't do this!"

"You can. You have to, Aang, to save save the people you love. Think of the people you love."

"The people I love…." Aang muttered. Who did he love? Love was such a strong word - stronger than hate. Could he classify anyone he knew as a loved one? There were people he cared for, sure, but loved?

He had loved Feng. He still did, in fact. Despite it all, he managed to muster affection for the Dai Li hypnotist. That was why he had been so angry before he had arrived at….wherever this place was. He had wanted a chance to honor the late Feng, a chance to prove Feng hadn't died for nothing.

Aang wasn't the only one to love someone despite all of the difficulties. Even though he had emotionally cut himself off for weeks from them at Zuko's palace, Team Avatar still loved him. He still didn't know if he loved them or not, for in his mind, he barely knew them, but they still loved him and treated him like one of their own, and Aang knew deep down that they would always love him. They would never give up on him.

Aang had to show Team Avatar that they weren't wrong in staying with him, and he had to honor Feng's memory. Suddenly, Aang knew how he could do that. He had to gain control of this Avatar energy. He didn't just have to. He would.

Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed, and a sky-blue beam of light approached him from all sides. He absorbed the energy, and it went inside him. Finally, he had absorbed it all.

Aang and the Avatar had become one.

The glow in Aang's eyes had ceased, but the glow in his tattoos continued. He gazed around him, only to see that everyone was gazing straight back at him (minus Toph, of course). He managed to locate his target in the crowd, and Aang slowly and steadily descended, before finally landing on the ground. No one dared approached him, and a circle had formed around him where no one stood, for all the people on the ground were afraid to be within a fifty-mile radius of him, let alone a few feet. He moved in the direction of his target. Everyone in his path quickly moved to get out of his way, forming a straight line to said target. Admiral Khon.

"Khon…" Aang breathed, voice ringing with the shadows of every Avatar before him. The awestruck admiral simply gazed at him in both wonder and fear.

"Admiral Khon, I could kill you right now," Aang stated.

Khon fearfully nodded, but then a grin slowly spread across his face as realization dawned on him, "You could...and then you would be just like me, Aang. What'll it be?"

Aang simply smiled in return, "You don't think I've had this problem before, Khon?"

"Oh...so you're gonna take away my bending, are you? I don't need it anyway. Only weaklings rely on bending. I can still lead and fight without it. You can't do anything to me, Aang."

"No, Khon, I have something different in mind," said Aang, to Khon's great shock. He grabbed Khon's shoulders and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Aang focused on Khon alone, zeroing in on his essence. He focused on Khon's spirit, and made it encompass Khon's physical form. Then, like redirecting lightening, Aang guided the spirit into another realm.

It only took a moment. Khon faded into a blue mist, before dissipating into the sky.

"You aren't going to be doing much leading and fighting when you're trapped in the Spirit World, Khon - oh, and that's Avatar Aang to you."