Of Control

Fire brings only destruction and pain. It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually, we are torn apart.
--Jeong-Jeong (The Deserter)

"You can't be serious?" Aang said and dodged the ball of fire his teacher had flung his way.

"And why shouldn't I be?" Red, a name she had insisted on using, asked, her movements fluid as she attacked Aang with her fire.

"This is unfair!" Aang protested. Curling his hands into fists, he brought them down, sending a wave of stone against her.

Toph jumped in front of Red and slammed her fist against the stone, making it break. "You do know that she said fire-bending only."

"But I haven't actually been taught fire-bending yet."

"Aah, but I have been teaching you, Avatar," she said. "You are simply not paying enough attention."

"I don't get—oh!" Aang shifted his stance and, with narrowed eyes, threw his fist forward. Blinking, he said, "How come I can't make any flames come out?"

"Well, you certainly got the idea of copying my movements," Red said impassively. "But you can't draw from the heat around you, at least not yet. For beginners, we always make them draw from their own heat first, as it is easier to control."

Aang hung his head and sighed, his shoulders drooping. "This stinks." Forcing himself to straighten his back, he moved into a stance again and grunted. "Bring it on!"

"Very well," Red said. Discarding the large cloak she often wore, she curled her fists and moved into a fighting position.

Aang studied her for a moment. There was not much about her clothes that would give her away; she wore no jewelry that connected her to the nobility, and yet she carried an air of formality that said otherwise. Her clothes were a simple red color, a sleeveless tunic over a pair of trousers, and her hair, a dark brown color that Aang sometimes mistook as black.

Taking a deep breath, he concentrated on gathering—

He threw himself forward, narrowly missing a lash of fire. "What did you do that for?!"

"Too slow."

She ran forward and jumped in the air. Twisting her body, she slammed her foot downwards, hitting Aang's hastily-made rock shield. Using the momentum, she twisted again and brought her other foot down, breaking the shield and scorching Aang's arm in the process.

The boy hissed in pain. He moved into a fighting stance and, without warning, launched a succession of attacks. Fire emitted from his fists, making him grin in delight. His happiness was not long-lived as Red had dispersed them and threw her own fire at Aang.

Before the Avatar could react, a pillar of flames rose from around him. Red straightened from her crouched position and frowned. "Why are you hiding, Avatar?"

"I am not hiding."

Red stiffened. The voice was deeper now…older too. "Avatar Roku." She said, her voice struggling to remain impassive.

"My great-granddaughter." The fire disappeared to show the glowing form of the previous Avatar. "I had hoped that we would meet in a better situation."

"I'm sorry, Avatar, but I know of only one great-grandfather: the Fire Lord Sozin."

"Aah…but you do not carry Sozin's blood." Roku stepped forward and spread his arms. "I, on the other hand…my blood flows in your veins, child. Why do you think you are so powerful? You are the first to carry the blood of more than one Avatar."

"You're lying," Red stated firmly.

"And why should I be? It is time you learn of your true heritage…and where your loyalties should lie."

"I don't need a spirit to dictate my actions," Red snarled. "You're only doing this to stall the time."

Roku smiled briefly. "Yes, I am stalling you, my child. My successor is remembering, at the moment, and I don't want you to accidentally…end him." Roku reached out and removed Red's mask.

Azula winced as the spirit touched her face lightly. "You have my Ta Min's nose." Roku remarked sadly. Sighing, he moved a step backwards and looked up at the sky. "I hope to see a day when peace reigns this world once more. Aang…bringing that peace was never his destiny."

"Then whose was it?" Azula asked.

"Your brother's." Piercing hazel eyes bore into her own.

She gulped. "And what of mine?"

The Avatar looked down. "Yours is still clouded…still unclear."Roku said and placed the Red Spirit mask back on Azula's face."There are still far too many decisions to be made, far too many paths to be crossed, before your own becomes clear. Don't make the wrong the decision, child."

Birdsong filled the air, making Red blink. Did time just—

Aang redirected the fire, forcing Red on defensive. "What's the matter, Sifu Red?" Aang asked, confused at his teacher's sudden sloppy performance.

Red gritted her teeth and forced her feelings behind a curtain of emotionless calm. Unconsciously moving into a familiar stance, she began her attack once more.

Aang yelped in panic as he saw blue flames dancing around Red. Remembering the one responsible for his near demise, he shuddered inwardly. This isn't the time to relive the past, Aang! He thought to himself.Unless of course…it has something to do with firebending.

Katara parted the leaves and watched Aang train in silence. Besides her, Sokka was picking berries for dinner.

"The nerve of that woman!" She hissed to herself, her hand gripped a branch tightly. "If she thinks she can just—just force Aang into learning fire-bending, then she's wrong!"

"These berries sure are delicious," Sokka said, popping one in his mouth.

Katara smacked him. "Don't eat all of them, Sokka!"

Sokka whined, nursing his aching cheek. "You don't have to be so mean, Katara."

Katara exhaled loudly, her exasperation evident. "Just shut up!"

"Yes ma'am," Sokka said and saluted seriously. To Momo who was eating his berries, Sokka said, "Don't eat all the berries, Momo; she might slap you too."

Katara rolled her eyes and went back to watching. She stiffened as she saw the display of orange and blue fire dancing around the two individuals. Her hands reached for the water pouch but Sokka stopped her from joining. Giving her brother a glare, she pulled her hand away.

"Don't."

She crossed her arms and made a face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flicker of movement. Turning her head to get a better view, she gasped. Toph was fighting as well.

The girl twisted her foot and brought a palm forward, sending two boulders flying. Behind her, Red had jumped into the air and with a well-aimed kick, lit one of the boulders on fire. Toph slid her foot to the right and, with a clench of her fist, the other rock shattered into tiny pieces.

Aang crouched, dodging the burning mass of minerals, and with a sweep of his leg, sent a wave of orange fire against them. Slamming his fist to the ground, he brought a stone wall up, stopping the shattered pieces from further flight.

Red grabbed Toph by the collar and scooped her under her legs. Using a rock that was half-buried against the ground, she pushed off and did a backwards flip. Toph, who was calm only moments ago, was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Put me down! Put me down!"

Red landed on top of a burning tree branch and jumped downwards before complying with Toph's request.

Katara watched all this from behind the trees, mindless of the fire burning only meters away from her. She was awed by Aang's performance—the boy didn't learn as quickly as he did with the other two elements—and was envious that Red's method would work so well.

What surprised her even more was the synchronism between the two; they fought together like they had been doing this for months. She felt her heart clench and sighed. Was Red slowly replacing her from the group?

The idea left a bitter taste in her mouth, making her grimace. Her eyes followed Red's movements and what happened next made her heart skip a beat. A pillar of smoke rose from where Aang had stood, and there was a scorch mark on the ground.

Before she could cry out his name, a hole appeared and out came a head followed by the rest of Aang's body.

"What are you trying to do? Kill him?" Katara found herself yelling while running towards them.

"Katara…" Aang blinked. "I didn't know…"

"That I was here? What if you knew, Aang? Would you have been as reckless?" Katara demanded.

"I-I—"

"He's learning, isn't he?" Red asked quietly, her voice barely audible.

"But you're turning him into some-some kind of killing machine!" Katara protested. "Look around you; is this what learning is all about, Aang? I thought you had better control over your power. Re-remember what happened with Sifu Jeong-Jeong?"

"I don't have time, Katara." He said softly. "I can't—" He gulped. "Avatar Roku helped me remember most of what I need to learn. Control…control will just have to wait."

Katara opened her mouth, but she could think of no words to say.

A/N: First of all, just to clear things up, I'm pretty sure Avatar Kyoshi died without a child because it says in Wiki that on the mural in Avatar Day, right after the familiar word Avatar, appears to be the words chǔ nǚ which in Chinese means 'virgin.' I'm gonna change that; in my fic, she does have a descendant. This explains Roku's statement. As for more information about Azula's parentage? You'll just have to wait.

Also, I'm going to write a Sokka/Longshot flashback fic for chapter three. This will be a separate one-shot fic so don't expect me to post it here.

And lastly, I write with the pace of a turtle so please be patient.