Chapter 16: The Great Forces

Summer dawned and it was back to the Fire Nation. This summer, like the one three years ago, would be one to stick with me my whole life. When I went home to the palace with Toph and saw the troubled look on Aang's face, I knew something was wrong. We embraced, kissed, and told each other how much we missed one another. When that somewhat superficial greeting was over, I asked straightforwardly, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answered elusively. "I'm fine."

No matter; I was curious about other things. "Have you been visiting the peasants?"

"Um—no."

"Why not?"

"I've been too busy, and they're horrible people with all the violence they do."

Odd for Aang to be so judgmental, I thought; but then, I agreed with him. "What about the Royal Circle?" I inquired, hoping he had begun to side with the upper class.

"They're no better."

"Then what have you been doing?" I asked. Aang had sent me only a few letters in comparison with the dozens that I sent him while I was away.

"Oh, Aang here has taken to solitude." Zuko walked into the room. Now nineteen, he was taller and stronger than before. He wore his hair long like his father, free of ties and ornaments, as this was the weekend and there were no council meetings.

I was puzzled at his comment. "Why?" I asked, looking over at Aang. "Are you lonely?"

"No—" he began, and then hesitated. "Well, to be honest, I've been doing a lot of mediating and talking to the Guru. I've even visited the spirit world a few times."

I remembered what Zuko said about "spiritual troubles."

"I feel like I need to—work on myself," Aang stammered. "The monks call it 'purging.' I've done a lot of wrong and I need to reach a better state if I want to be a good Avatar."

Aang, doing wrong? Sokka did wrong, abandoning me and not supporting me; Zuko did wrong, being cold and bitter to me; Toph had done wrong in drinking and spending her time with moot characters. Even I did wrong, by taking too long of a selfish vacation. But Aang? When had he ever done wrong? He was everybody's hero! He saved the world from tyranny. I mean sure, he was human, but he was far from being cruel or selfish. I wondered if his quest for "goodness" was somehow connected to his secret search for the cure of Bender's Plague. It would indeed seem shameful if the world knew that the Avatar was losing his own spirit-energy.

Zuko cleared his throat loudly. "Lady Katara, I'd like to talk to you…alone." He gestured into the sitting room of my wing in the palace. I followed him, told Aang I'd be out shortly, and shut the door. "Listen," Zuko began. "I've come to a decision and announced it in council. This waiting for a compromise isn't cutting it. I've decided to confiscate a lot of land and money from the upper class, and let the peasants use it for their businesses. If they're happy, the economy's happy—and more fair. There'll be a lot of changes in the social and business world, including stimulating the new foreign trade. And I'll start letting representatives from lower and middle classes come to council."

He was on their side! How could he?! I restrained my anger with effort. "How do the noblemen feel about that?" I asked.

"I'm expecting them to declare a civil war."

"What?!" I looked up at him in shock. "But—but—we can't have war! We just finished a century of it! It's not worth it, Zuko."

Zuko lighted several lanterns with fire bending, anxious to let off a little steam. "There's no other way, Katara," he said, a little irritably. "I expect the war to be short. We have one heck of an advantage."

"Huh? What advantage?"

He smiled. "The Lion Turtle."

I listened in surprise and incredulity as the Fire Lord described his alliance with the great animal. He seemed completely won over by the giant beast, talking with a light in his eyes. He felt sure that, if necessary, the Lion Turtle would fight on his side.

"But isn't that a little…risky?" I asked. "An animal is unpredictable."

"He is unpredictable, but he's more than an animal. I don't know what he is—maybe a spirit crossed over into our world. What animal could think like he does? His mind works like nobody's I've ever met."

"You two make a fine pair then," I growled angrily. "You're both weird, unpredictable animals!" I changed the subject before letting my anger get out of control. "Look, you've talked to me and now I wanna talk to you. Tell me what's wrong with Aang." There was something that nobody was telling me.

Zuko fidgeted. "I don't wanna put my nose where it doesn't belong. Stuff with you and Aang isn't my business."

"But if someone's withholding information about my husband, it's my business to find it out."

"Well, you're quite the ferret," Zuko said with a smile—but the smile was embittered. "Okay look, there's something you should know about Aang." He hesitated and the silence was heavy. He paced back and forth. "At the party that night," Zuko said at last. "Aang was the biggest flirt I've ever seen. Worse than Ty Lee."

"It was the wine."

"Yeah, maybe. But he set himself up for disaster, and he embarrassed you. Did…did Toph tell you what happened during the dance? She took Aang up to his room."

My stomach knotted. "Go on."

"Aang and Toph both told me…both separately, and confidentially. Let's just say things got a little physical."

A heavy silence filled the room—the heaviest I'd ever known. It was like a suffocating load blotting out all noise.

"When you left, Aang got even weirder," Zuko continued. "I had to keep him from completely depleting the cellar. Then I asked him what was really wrong."

I felt overwhelmed and full of fear. Could this be true? Could Aang have done the unthinkable…betrayed his true love? "…I need to hear this from Aang," I said in a strained voice. "From Toph."

"While you're at it, hear from your maid too," said Zuko. "He had something going with her."

"Beka?!" I exclaimed. Quickly overriding my fear of emotional hurt was the irresistible force of fury. I stood up and got ready to leave, but hesitated. "What did Aang say…when you asked him what was really wrong?"

"Maybe you'd better talk to Guru Pathik about that. He's here in the palace. On the roof. He can explain."

"Thank you, Zuko." I realized that since I got home, I was no longer addressing him as the Fire Lord. Something was changed between us—we were not distant from each other now; we had both made up our minds. That wasn't to say that we liked what the other had decided, only that we had each come to a decision and were prepared to fight for it…or fight each other for it.

I found the dark-skinned Guru lying flat on the rooftop of one of the palace buildings. When I came up he opened one eye, grinned, and said, "Want to soak up some healthy solar energy with me?"

I wasn't so reptilian. "Actually, I came to talk about something serious."

"You know you are wise when you consider communion with the sun to e a very serious thing."

"I prefer cold weather."

"A perfect opportunity to step outside your comfort zone. Try hot sunlight." He sat up and stroked his white beard as he spoke.

I didn't want to hear any more advice. "I want to hear about Aang." Sitting beside him, I fixed him with my stern blue eyes. "What's wrong with him? Zuko says it could be spiritual."

Pathik returned my gaze unflinchingly. "If you want to know about Avatar stuff, my lady, you've got to be prepared to hear weird things. Are you willing?"

I nodded.

"Then I'll start at the beginning. Our world is only one universe, one dimension among many. Ours has a mirror world, a shadow land, like a half-solid copy of ours. In that dimension live mighty beasts with the ability to cross worlds. We call them spirits because they can assume more than body."

"I know all that," I replied. "Aang tells me a lot. He says the spirit world is interwoven with ours. Like two sides of a coin, separated but still one. It takes a lot to pass between the web from one dimension to another."

"Yes, you pretty much have to be an Avatar to do that. Anyway, on a recent trip to the spirit world, Aang came across the Great Forces themselves."

I'd heard them mentioned before. "What are they?"

"It's debatable. My culture and about half the Air Bending Monks believe that the Great Forces are normal spirits like any others from otherworld. But a lot of other Monks believed that the Great Forces were the ultimate power, which set the Universe in action and maintains it. They say that the Great Forces ordained the Avatar as a means of making peace between two worlds."

He continued, "Aang says the forces spoke to him in the spirit world and our world. He believes that they are not like other spirits; that they are above such spirits. Apparently the Great Forces told Aang that it was the Avatar's duty not only to settle matters of dimensional nature disputes. It is also the Avatar's duty to serve the Great Forces and represent them perfectly to both sides of the coin."

So? I didn't see the point. "Why would that upset Aang?" I asked.

"Why?" Pathik reiterated with a hint of surprise. "Well, because that one allegation—Great Forces that are higher than beings in both world—undermines everything he knows! It means that the Avatar does not have complete power. It means that he hasn't been doing his duty in representing the Forces. It means that he probably won't ever be able to do it accurately, because the Great Forces demand perfection without flaw."

"Nothing's without flaws," I argued, thinking about the disease that was troubling me, Aang, and even Zuko.

"Of course! That's another thing that's stressing out poor Aang. You see, he believes what the Great Forces told him. He listened to all their rules and regulations and became ashamed of his humanity."

I was horrified. "And you agreed?" I exclaimed.

Pathik answered sharply, "Of course I don't agree. I told him not to believe those spirits. I told him solitary meditation and purging would make him as perfect as he ever needed to be, but he's taking it to an extreme. Aang's practically starving and isolating himself."

"But Pathik, what could possibly make him believe those complete strangers?"

Raising his bushy eyebrows, the Guru said, "Like most things in life, it's a matter of heart. Aang has a personal attachment to the Lion Turtle. So he discussed the Great Forces and the Lion Turtle believed everything too. The oldest animal in the world would know, Aang figured. Especially so kind and helpful an animal. The Lion Turtle even went so far as to say, 'The only way to have peace is for somebody to take all the burdens of the world and still remain without evil.' Aang took himself to be that somebody."

"He's trying to be perfect?" I asked incredulously. "Well that's ironic."

"Stress is strange thing, my lady. The duty of performing well made Aang crave something pleasurable to ease him."

I thought of Aang making out with Toph and still couldn't believe it. My Aang wouldn't do that. It was all the spirits' fault, or the wine's fault, or the Lion Turtle's fault. But it could not be dear Aang's fault.

"What do you think, dear?" the Guru inquired.

"I'll tell you what I think. I think the Lion Turtle's a giant con—some way the peasants are trying to screw up the Avatar! I think they need to be stopped."

Pathik laid out flat again ad became silent.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Where politics come into the matter, I have nothing to say." And he held true to that, not speaking another word.

My anger was flying over the top now. I could not rein it in. I went striding from the rooftop and straight to Toph's temporary quarters to confront her. She was not there. Only Beka was present, cleaning up dishes from Toph's lunch. When I came in she looked up and greeted me warmly.

"You're fired, Beka," I stated simply.

She stared at me, wondering if I was joking. Then her eyes widened and her mouth fell open as she realized I was serious. "Oh no, please lady! I need work!"

"You're fired," I repeated.

"But…why?"

"Because you're a peasant."

Beka's eyes were filling with tears. "Is this about me and the Avatar? I swear nothing happened but a kiss. He asked me and I can't disobey the Avatar and keep my job. Please lady, by all that's holy, I swear Aang and I weren't serious!"

I pushed her down into a chair. My eyes were flaming fiercer than wildfire. "Don't you dare address the Avatar as Aang!" I shouted. "Don't you dare touch him ever again! Understand?! You need work? Got to the saloon and see if they need any floozies." Then I went to find Toph.

It was warm day—the first really warm day since spring started. In one of the courtyards there was a pool for swimming. Beside the pool Toph was lounging on a chair, getting a sun tan. She had cut her hair short again. In a two-piece bathing suit she looked a lot more womanly than in her earth bending clothes.

I was as direct and grim as I had been with Beka. "Toph. I need to ask you something."

Toph looked at me and then over at Zuko, who was on the far end of the pool soaking his feet. "Ask away, Sugar Queen," she said casually.

The tone of her voice almost made me fly at her. With effort I bottled my anger, concentrating it, waiting for the right time to let it loose. "In the spring," I began. "At my anniversary party. Did you…did you act inappropriately with Aang before I came up?"

The blind girl apparently couldn't help a smile. "Sorry," she chuckled, "it's just the way you say things cracks me up. I didn't sleep with him if that's what you're asking."

Relief flowed over me.

"But—"

There went the relief.

"—We almost did. We never got that far. I hit Aang with a rock and he was out like a light."

"Why?"

"Because of the rock."

I gritted my teeth. "No, Toph. I mean why did you hit him?"

"Oh, that. He was being an idiot. I was being one too, but I'm not that dumb."

So at least she didn't let things get too out of hand. But no, I thought in growing rage; she had still done wrong. "You're not just dumb, Toph," I growled at her; "you're a completely screwed up kid! You touched my Aang! It's wrong, Toph. You took advantage of his—of his—"

"Idiocy?" Toph suggested.

"How dare you joke about this!" I screamed, soaking her with water from the pool. "From the first moment I saw you I knew you were uncontrollable! Maybe you're even human! Maybe you're just a Badger Mole runt!"

Toph got up to protest, but I knocked her over with a wave of water. I was hurt; so hurt that all I knew how to do was strike out in rage. I forced Toph into the pool with my bending, knowing how she hated water. I made waves drag her to the deep end where her feet couldn't touch and where she would have difficulty swimming.

"You obnoxious brat!" I shouted at her. "If you ever get near my Aang again I'll have you locked up in an asylum! You're not fit for civilized company!" Then I stormed away, feeling utterly betrayed.

Behind, I could hear Zuko jumping into the water to help Toph out. Zuko, I thought bitterly, you betrayed me too. Everybody was betraying me—Aang was just the victim, not the problem. Aang and I were only ones who weren't nutcases. The others must not be allowed to keep doing wrong; I must set them straight. I must prevent the war in the Fire Nation too. There was still hope for me being able to find a convenient hold on Zuko and Toph.

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Today I had volunteered to bring food to the palace prison, where a lot of infamous prisoners were held. A least I would be able to get some satisfaction today. On my way to the prison, though, I met Aang. He was staring at the ground and looking dejected.

"Aang," I said, hugging him.

"Katara! You're not mad at me?"

"I could never be mad at you. It doesn't matter what the gossip says; I still trust you. We just have to protect each other from those messed up people!"

"I'm glad," Aang said, smiling through tears. "I couldn't stand it if…if you were really angry. If you…left me. We complete each other, right?"

"Of course." I kissed him.

He pulled away. "But I have too much of a burden. As the Avatar, I have to make sure everything goes perfectly…I have to heal this Plague…the Great Forces said…"

"Don't you worry about those ridiculous spirits," I interrupted. "You never have to worry about doing anything alone. I'll take all your burdens for you. Just tell me what you need me to do."

He smiled. "Thank you, Katara."