a/n: Another mind-boggling chapter to confuse and torture my readers. I love you guys :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender
+Aang+
A gentle rustling noise brought Aang to his senses. He felt serenely calm as though he were floating in the gentle waves of an ocean. Nothing seemed to trouble him, least of all the fact that he did not know where he was or why. He didn't even bother to open his eyes. No danger would assault him here. Not having proof of this mattered very little to him. All that mattered was that he knew. He just did. He was safe.
"Aang…"
Aang opened his eyes though nothing had changed. The feeling of pure calmness and safety was still complete. However, that voice which had interrupted his rest was not one to ignore. Aang knew that voice. It was Roku.
"Roku?" Aang spoke aloud to the fog surrounding him. He was indeed floating in water though he could not tell if this was any ocean he had ever encountered. The fog was so dense it was impossible to see three feet in front of him.
"I am here, Aang." The voice reverberating around him as though he were both right next to Aang and also everywhere, existing in the mist and even inside every single drop of water the ocean contained.
Aang righted himself from his floating position so that he was no longer on his back but bobbing slowly in the water. He turned his head this way and that but there was no sign of Roku.
"I've been trying to reach you for a very long time, Aang."
"Why? You can reach me whenever you want. You're a part of me and so are all the other past Avatars."
"That is correct, Aang," Roku's voice spoke out, every syllable as clear as a bell's toll, "but be warned. Times of changed. We are at the brink of a war."
"What?" Aang cried out in outrage. "The war is over! I saw to it myself! Ozai was put in prison-"
"I'm afraid you're a little behind the times, Aang. Ozai has escaped."
"What! But why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because you're mind has shut you inside the spirit world where you will be safe. That is one of the defense mechanisms of the Avatar. It is quite similar to the Avatar State where one can wield great power while surrendering to total vulnerability. That being said, Aang, this defense mechanism which shields you from the other side also runs a major risk."
"And what's that?"
"While you are shut inside the spirit world, you are not liable to any threats made to you mentally. The spirit world protects your mind from being damaged in any way, keeping you calm and immune to trauma. However, your physical body is at its weakest state. You will not be able to control your body any better than when you are unconscious which is what you appear to be right now to others. In short, Aang, you will not be able to protect your physical body or anyone else's for the time being."
"So you're telling me I'm basically asleep right now? Well, if Ozai broke out, then I really need to get out there and help everyone!" Aang was ready to propel himself out of the water when Roku's godlike voice interrupted him.
"It is not that simple, Aang." He said. "While this defense mechanism is in play, there is no way out of it until the danger has passed."
Aang searched his foggy surroundings, hoping desperately that he and Roku could have this conversation face-to-face. When no other being solidified in front of him, however, he called out to nowhere in particular, "But this has never happened to me before even when I was dying! How can this be happening when I'm not even in serious trouble?"
"That is my point precisely, Aang, the main reason I've been trying to contact you. It has been difficult as the state you are in prevents anyone, even spiritual, reaching you in your temple of tranquility." After a slight pause, Roku said in a strangely grave tone, "I'm afraid you are in danger, Aang. As the defensive measures set up to protect your mental status suggests it is not a physical threat you face but a spiritual one. Aang, you are in great danger."
There was silence where Aang bobbed up and down in the water, staring blankly into the fog as if in a daze. But he felt no inner turmoil at the news. Could it be that this place was stamping out his ability to panic, to feel, to reason? Maybe this place even prevented him from feeling passion, worry and concern for his friends who were now in more danger than he'd ever imagined. But that couldn't be true because he, Avatar Aang, did care. He felt in his heart the sudden urgency to be beside his friends to protect them from Ozai, even if he no longer had the power to roast him with his own two hands.
Coming back to his senses, he stared into the fog again. He couldn't tell if the silence was because Roku had left or because he had dreamed it all.
"Roku?" he called out tentatively into the fog. A split-second pause and then the unmistakable voice of Roku answered, "Yes, what is it, Aang?"
Aang gulped. He really didn't know what to do but instead of voicing his concern he asked, "Why is the spirit world in danger?"
"The spirit world's fate is intertwined with that of the mortal world so that the two are inseparable. However, the events that take place in the mortal world have no direct consequences whatsoever on the spirit world. That is where the Avatar comes in. He or she is the only individual who can flit between both, acting as a bridge between the two. The result is that the Avatar is the only being who is affected by both the mortal world and the spirit world.
"Normally this is the case. The spirit world and the mortal world are two very different places which share the current Avatar as a bridge. Unfortunately, this rule has been broken. No, to be more precise, it has been altered and severely at that."
"What happened?" Aang asked.
"Interference," Roku's voice explained "of an abnormal nature. Possibly sinister. I call it that because of the activation of your Avatar defense mechanism, which is extremely rare, but also because it has upset the balance of nature.
"I'm afraid to say, Aang, that someone or something has interfered with the natural balance of the mortal world in such a way that it has also posed a threat to its spiritual counterpart. It is crucial that you understand what I mentioned just before. Whatever did this is dangerous because it posed a threat not only to the mortal world but also the spiritual world, a phenomenon which has never been heard of. And they didn't even do anything directly to you, the only source of connection between the two worlds that anyone or anything can possibly touch.
"The results you already know. You were mentally imprisoned within the spirit world for your own protection, you being the only bridge and therefore a likely target. Your physical body was rendered unconscious and is being cared for by your friends. In the meanwhile, terrible forces with even worse intentions are rising, using your absence and that of others to their own advantage. So you see Aang, this is escalating into a full-fledged war on both sides."
Aang was quiet for a while, stunned at this overwhelming flood of information.
"What am I supposed to do?" Aang asked softly, no longer looking into the fog but down at his own reflection in the water.
"There is a way." At these words, Aang's heart jumped. "Like the Avatar State, your imprisonment here is also temporary, the problem being that no one knows when you will be free. However, you are not as immobilized here as you think. The purpose of this particular defense mechanism is to prevent you from being mentally corrupted and ultimately damaged by the unknown danger. Being locked in the spiritual world protects you from such dangers by making sure that your mental status is virtually incorruptible but there is a way of taking this protection with you to the mortal world so that you are free to leave this place."
"How do I do that?" Aang asked eagerly, looking up into the fog again even though Roku was still a voice without a body.
"By reaching a spiritual mental status. Absolute tranquility and the ability to detach yourself from your emotions will insure that no harm could possibly be done to your mental wellbeing. This is where I leave you Aang. Hurry, there isn't much time."
"Wait!" Aang called out into foggy nothingness. "How am I supposed to reach this spiritual mental status? Just how-"
"The world needs you Avatar Aang," Roku's voice rang out, drowning Aang's pleas, "do whatever it takes to save it."
There was a silence. Aang did not call out again. Roku was gone.
+Ozai+
When he had been a small child, his father had often been absent to see him grow into a young man because of his many foreign affairs and meetings. One day when he was around 14 years of age, his father surprised him by joining them for a family dinner, something that hadn't happened in many years.
He and his older brother sat side by side a little ways down the table while his father sat at the head of the table and his mother to his immediate right. They ate in silence for while exchanging small talk in low, polite voices. His father was a stern busy man, the Fire Lord if anything else needed saying and therefore sat importantly eating his supper. Ozai suspected that he really didn't give a damn what was being said at the table.
During dessert they were served a delicious pudding with rose petals on the top. The cook had taken even greater care than usual in order to honor the Fire Lord in his participation in a family dinner. While the others gently spooned small bites into their mouths, Ozai sat glumly, picking at his pudding.
Even those days, he didn't like being in the presence of both his parents. He felt suffocated by them especially when his older brother was also nearby because one of them inexplicably started comparing the two even though Iroh was much older than he was and therefore had an impressive list of achievements which Ozai, who was not even old enough to be in the military, was supposed to compete.
Of course, Ozai was quite accomplished for his age. People thought he was an opportunist who rolled the dice when the stakes were high and got lucky enough to get credit. His mother had often voiced concerned about this, telling him that luck was for the less fortunate and not fit for a prince. Even though his mother hovered over the two boys like queen bees, she had failed to understand that Ozai wasn't an opportunist and was actually quite adept at overcoming and challenges he faced.
Because his own mother who had kept a careful eye on him since birth didn't seem to understand this, he highly doubted that his father who was rarely home to recognize his true skills. For this reason he was truly shocked when halfway through dessert, his father spoke to him.
"Prince Ozai."
"Yes, Father?"
"Do you believe that it is unfair that you are constantly compared to your brother even by people who have no business in these matters?"
Taken aback at this sudden openness, Ozai muttered, "No, Father. I mean, if people's expectations are not met, then surely I'm not trying hard enough."
"And yet you have met some of the highest expectations for a young man of your status quite well."
"Thank you, Father."
"Of course, there are those who believe it to be mere luck."
Ozai was silent. He was not surprised. After all, what else would he expect of a father who was as close to a stranger as he could get? But his next words surprised him.
"But you, Prince Ozai, don't agree, do you?"
Ozai couldn't answer.
"Well, it matters not what others think for even if everyone is supportive of you, you are the one who makes the decisions for yourself. You are the one responsible for your actions, your failures and your achievements. If you do not believe in yourself when others do not, no one, and I mean no one, ever will."
After that, no more words were exchanged. The family retired to their rooms and his father had to go to an emergency war meeting. Ozai didn't sleep that night. He was mulling over what his father had told him til dawn broke. He never quite forgot those words and didn't realize how powerful an amulet they had become until now.
"If you do not believe in yourself when others do not, no one ever will."
Well, that was certainly the perfect description of his situation now, wasn't it? Apart from his addled daughter, no one really believed him. He was branded as a common criminal and stripped of everything down to his firebending powers but he was still free. That was all that mattered. He was free now with the small help of a couple of stupid prison guards and contacts. And most important of all, it was the dawn of his revenge on everything he had built. All because he had taken measures to never give up even when everyone else had shunned him. It was time to start again.
"Azula." He whispered to somewhere above him. He was sitting on a tree branch a couple of feet off the ground, well hidden behind the thick boughs of pine needles. Below him was the dirt path leading toward another village. He could hear the approaching clip-clopping of a donkey drawn wagon.
A few minutes passed and then the donkey, the wagon and the unsuspecting farmer were all directly below their hiding place. There was a streak of fire and a shrill shriek of donkey or owner. Ozai couldn't tell but it was all over in seconds. The donkey was being held by a grinning Azula as the owner lay blackened and smoking at her feet.
a/n: Hope you liked it! Remember to review~!