Disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever owned Avatar: the Last Airbender. I am currently working on the copyright for Avatar: the Last of the Mohicans, not that anyone would want to read that…

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Rated M: Mature Content. Blood. Guts. Sex. Drugs. All the good stuff.

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Sokka: Is today the day? Do I get to see Yue again?

Author: It's a possibility. Just don't push your luck. This story has a long way to go, and I won't tolerate being pushed to speed it up.

Sokka: But…

Author: No buts.

Toph: Hah. He sure told you, didn't he?

Sokka: At least I can see him saying it.

Toph: Ow…

Zuko: That was harsh Sokka.

Sokka: Sorry Toph. I guess I am just overexcited.

Toph: Humph.

Suki: So it's coming. /sigh.

Author: Don't worry Suki. It won't be the greatest thing to happen to you, but you won't mind it much. In fact, you may enjoy it.

Suki: I certainly hope so. So far I haven't had much to enjoy. Everyone else is all lovey dovey and I am just background noise.

Author: You'll get yours, don't worry. Besides, there's always Toph. She doesn't have someone partnered to her yet.

Toph: Okay fine! If you all want to play bash on Toph, go ahead. I'll be over there breaking boulders into sand.

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Chapter 18: The Plot Thickens

Aang was having the strangest dream. He dreamed that Katara and Kita were calling out to him from the spirit world. It was so real, he could hear their voices. He tried to respond, but he couldn't make sound come out of his mouth.

Aang woke up from his doze holding Katara's hand. He stretched and turned to find Hakoda doing the same to both Katara and Kita.

"You love her very much, don't you?" Hakoda asked him when he saw Aang awake.

"Yes, Chief Hakoda, I do; very much so." Aang replied. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, clearing away the sleep. "Has there been any change?"

"None; they haven't moved at all other than to breathe." Hakoda replied. "Do you think they will ever wake up?"

Aang noted the concern on the man's face. He had no clue why Kita was so important to him, but Hakoda obviously worried dearly for both girls. "I don't think so, Chief Hakoda; not without some help. I'm going to try and bring them back." He told the Chief.

Before Hakoda could respond, Aang's eyes and tattoos began to glow brightly, and he was gone.

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Katara and Kita had spent much of their time sitting together talking, getting to know one another. Katara was impressed with Kita's healing skills and Kita in turn was jealous of Katara's fighting ability. They had promised to teach each other and help the other learn their craft, creating a perfect balance.

After a while, they tried to shout for Aang, hoping beyond hope that somehow he would hear them through the barrier between worlds. Unknown to them, he had.

Aang suddenly appeared before them as they were talking. "AANG!" Katara cried, jumping into his arms. Katara passed right through him and fell flat on her face.

"Katara, are you alright?" Kita asked, helping her up.

"Yeah, I think so, but what's going on?" she asked, sweeping her hand through Aang as if he were a ghost. Aang didn't seem to notice them and was looking around for them.

Aang saw the swampland as far as he could see. No one was around. "Katara!" he shouted. "Kita!"

"He can't see us!" Kita exclaimed.

"But maybe he can hear us!" Katara added.

The girls began shouting as loud as they could his name, hoping to draw his attention. It worked.

"Katara? Kita? Is that you?" Aang asked looking all around him.

They shouted yes in unison and Aang fell over trying to figure out where they were. "Where are you guys?!" He asked. Kita and Katara shouted different answers at the same time. "What?" he asked obviously not understanding either of them.

Kita motioned to Katara, "We need to say the same thing at the same time. I'll say it to you, and then we shout it together, okay?"

Katara nodded, and Kita told her what to shout. Together they shouted, "We are right in front of you! We can see you, but you can't see us!"

Aang faced forward and Katara stared into his eyes. "If your there but you're not there… Tell me what happened."

The girls spent a few minutes telling him about how they had healed his wound together and what it was like. Aang was totally blown away by the story. "Well, I don't know for sure, but if I had to guess I'd say you two are trapped somewhere between the real world and the spirit world." Aang hypothesized.

"Can you get us out?" they shouted together.

"I think so. Let's find out." Aang said. Aang began sending his spirit back to his body and during the transition saw the girls. He quickly grabbed each on the arm and finished the process, pulling them along.

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Aang's tattoo's stopped glowing and he blinked a few times. "Katara?" Aang asked hesitantly.

Katara opened her eyes and gave Aang a huge smile. "You did it Aang!" she cried out and threw her arms up around Aang, dragging him down over the bed and onto her lap.

Kita blinked and opened her eyes; the first thing she saw was Hakoda's smiling face staring into hers. "Hakoda…" she breathed, returning his smile.

"Thank goodness your alright." he said, leaning down to her and giving her a hug of his own. Katara noticed this, but said nothing. "I thought I'd lost you; both of you." He said, turning to face his beautiful daughter. "I… that is…"

"It's alright Hakoda. Katara and I had a long time to talk. I told her that I had feelings for you and that I hoped you returned them." Kita told him.

"I do, Kita. I have wanted to tell you since the moment I saw you how much you mean to me." Hakoda told her. Kita squealed in glee and threw her arms around Hakoda's neck and planted a kiss on his lips.

Katara kept her word and remained silent, but she was having trouble hiding that she wasn't as happy as her father was.

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Ozai was sitting on his throne just as he used to. He truly missed the feeling of power it gave him. Though still unable to firebend, his mere presence was like a security blanket to his mind. He was, therefore he had power. Before him now was a stranger who posed as interesting proposal indeed. If he was to be believed, Ozai had friends in very high places. One of these friends in particular gave him great interest, and on hearing his name brought a huge smile to his face; a cruel and vindictive smile.

"It is agreed then. I will keep my part of the bargain; it is in my own best interest. Now, keep yours if you're even telling the truth." Ozai told the cloaked stranger.

The hooded figure lowered his hood, revealing totally white, milky eyes. Ozai recoiled slightly; a fraction of an inch before regaining his composure. The man had said he was from the spirit world; now, Ozai believed him. The man was just a boy, perhaps eighteen years of age. Ozai knew him. His name was Lu-Ten.

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The girls felt fine and were up and about in minutes. The men excused themselves while the ladies cleaned up and got dressed. Katara kept to herself and refused to talk to Kita as they got ready for the day. She resented what she had seen between her and her father. She had to admit to herself that she liked Kita; she was very pretty and kind, and was a great healer. She wasn't sure she believed her story about her hands… but then how had she gone to the spirit world in the first place? If she hadn't, would Aang still be alive?

Kita remained silent as well, feeling the palpable tension between herself and Katara. She knew that Katara didn't believe her story about her hands or her father dying, but she had had to tell her; it was the right thing to do. Now, she needed to tell Hakoda. Maybe he would believe her after all. Kita finished getting dressed and with Katara headed to the main room to meet with the others. Now that Jet was back to normal, it was finally time to get to the bottom of things.

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Everyone greeted Katara and Kita happily when they entered the room. Zuko even went so far as to give Katara a hug and whispered in her ear, "Thank goodness you're alright." Katara blushed at that, but didn't give it a second thought. Once everyone settles down, they got down to business.

"Alright Jet; now that we are all here, why don't you tell us what happened?" Aang asked his friend.

Everyone was sitting around Jet in a circle, waiting for an explanation of what happened. Jet wasn't entirely sure where to begin, so started off by filling everyone in on who he was. He told them about being a freedom fighter in the earth kingdom and how he and his friends had done what they could to stop the Fire Nation. He then told them about his trip to Ba Sing Se and how he had tried to expose the then banished Prince Zuko and his uncle Iroh as firebenders. He told them about Lake Laogai and what happened under its shores. Aang and co had been there of course and knew most of it; this part of the story was for the benefit of those who had not known Jet before his death.

"Now I can remember most of what happened to me after I died. Somehow I managed to remember right before the Blue Spirit took me over again." Jet told them.

"How is it you could suddenly remember?" Zuko asked him, obviously still not trusting Jet; they did have a history after all.

"We were on the ship coming here and I was in my room. I decided to try to meditate and remember what was blocked out. I remember being in the spirit world and being… at peace I guess is the best way to describe it. Then, I was summoned to see the Spirit King himself." Jet told them.

"Wait a second; you expect us to believe the Spirit King actually exists?" Sokka demanded sarcastically. "Why don't you tell us the one about the dragon rabbit next?"

"It's true Sokka, whether you want to believe me or not. The spirit world is divided into various quadrants. The good spirits of the folks from our world travel to the infinite city; the bad ones usually get sent to the swamp or some other wilderness location." Jet told him.

"So now you want us to believe the fairy tale about the infinite city, too?" Mai asked him in much the same way Sokka had before. "We aren't children you know."

"Now wait a minute, both of you. I have been to the spirit world a few times." Aang interrupted. "I have seen rocky passes, swamps and even caverns when I was there. Why wouldn't it be possible?" he asked them. No one answered so he continued, "If Jet says the Spirit King is real and the infinite city is too, who are we to refute it? Maybe I can see for myself one day if it's real."

"Thanks, Aang." Jet said in gratitude. Then continuing his story, Jet tried his best to describe the infinite city. It was just like the fairy tales, and the looks on people's faces began to show some belief. Nothing in the fairy tale was described in such vivid detail; Jet painted a portrait of impossible beauty. "When the messenger took me to the palace, he led me into the throne room. I was left alone after I was brought before the man on the throne."

"What did the Spirit King look like?" Katara asked him curiously.

"I don't know." Jet replied. "The man wasn't the Spirit King. He introduced himself as the advisor. I was always told the Spirit King appears as a kindly old man's face with no body, but this man looked a lot like Fire Nation." Jet said.

Zuko sat up straight in his seat. "Did you recognize him?" he asked Jet.

"No. He didn't look like anyone I had ever met before; but he did have some sort of presence about him. He almost came off as being self important; like he was the King himself or something." Jet told Zuko.

"What did he look like?" Zuko asked, suddenly very wary.

A man entered just then and approached Chief Arnook. "Sir, Hahn is awake." The man told Arnook.

"Excellent. I will see him as soon as we are finished here." Arnook told the soldier. He bowed out and Zuko once again asked Jet what the advisor looked like.

"He was wearing a black and red outfit that appeared to be armor. He had big sideburns (Jet used his hands to trace them) and a Fire Nation warrior's tail." Jet answered.

Zuko's palms began to sweat. "You know who that sounds like don't you?" he asked to Aang, Sokka and Katara.

All three of them nodded. "Zhao." They said together.

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"Who is Zhao?" Jet asked. Aang, Zuko, Sokka and Katara went over all their encounters with the now deceased ex-Admiral Zhao. Zuko used this chance to tell them all about the Blue Spirit and Zhao's obsession with him, as well as how Zhao had tried to kill Zuko.

"This Zhao seems like a real piece of work." Bato observed.

"His master, Zeong Zeong, tried to teach me firebending once. He told me about how Zhao only trained to learn destructive force and lacked control. The man is cruel, sadistic and arrogant beyond belief." Aang told everyone.

"Sounds typically Fire Nation to me." Mai commented. Zuko gave her a dirty look. "Well, it was, anyway." She amended.

"We don't know for sure that the advisor is Zhao, but let's assume for now that it is. If that's the case, the question is how he got into the infinite city. Didn't you say only good spirits go there? Zhao is far from a good spirit." Sokka said.

"I don't know how he got there. I told you what happened. The next thing I knew was Aang bringing me back in the Fire Nation palace." Jet said.

"Wait, you mentioned that Zhao was obsessed with the Blue Spirit. Could that be why you were dressed like him?" Suki inquired.

Jet nodded. "Right after I remembered all this, the Blue Spirit struck back at me and took over again, capturing me."

"I wonder…" Aang trailed.

"What is it, Aang?" Katara asked him.

"I don't know… Something doesn't make sense. The Blue Spirit was just a costume Zuko wore a few times to do things that would have made him a traitor if caught. How is it that when we were in the spirit world, I was fighting an actual Blue Spirit?" Aang explained.

"I don't know much about the spirit world, but I do have a working theory." Kita chimed in.

"If you don't know anything about the spirit world, what could you possibly know?" Katara asked somewhat harshly.

Kita didn't back down, but answered the question legitimately. "Well, I do know about the human body and its workings. Aang, you mentioned being in the spirit world before. You mentioned swamps and caves and rocks… but all we saw was an empty landscape, right?"

"Right." Aang said.

"Jet, you mentioned a selenium serum in your story. When they gave it to you, that's when you blacked out, right?" Kita continued.

"Yeah, that's right." Jet answered.

"I wonder… could it not have been the spirit world we were in at all?" Kita suggested.

"But how…" Aang stated, but then his face lit up. "Kita, that's brilliant!" he told her.

Kita smiled. "What are you talking about, Aang?" Katara asked, frustrated.

"She realized it wasn't the spirit world at all. In my training as a monk we learn that through meditation we can enter the world of the mind and reach tranquility. I think Kita is suggesting that whatever they did to Jet gave them the ability to implant a second personality in his mind; right?" Aang asked Kita.

"Exactly. It's rare but not unheard of to have multiple personalities." Kita said.

"Wait, wasn't there a guy in that fishing village in the Fire Nation that had that? He kept saying he was his brothers." Toph recalled.

"Right, he sold me the polluted fish!" Sokka exclaimed.

"My thought is that they put the Blue Spirit into Jet's head and put it in control. When Aang entered Jet's mind, he jolted him out of his sleep and put him back in control. Then, when the Blue Spirit personality fought for control it took back over and captured Jet." Kita explained.

"Yeah, that's exactly how it happened!" Jet said.

"When Aang tries to reach the spirit world, he travels through the barrier between worlds in the human subconscious. That's how he got there." Kita said.

"But how did you get there?" Hakoda asked her.

"I… I am not sure. I will talk to you later." Kita evaded. "Still, I believe that Jet has full control of him now and can manage the new personality. The Blue Spirit is gone for good, locked away deep in Jet's mind."

"Amazing." Arnook observed. "So assuming this is all true, the spirit world is a much bigger part of our lives than we thought."

"I wonder…" Kenji said, "All this seems to stem from the spirit world. You mentioned that Ozai escaped with the help of the Blue Spirit, right? I wonder if there's a plot in the spirit world to help Ozai conquer our world.

Aang blinked. "That somehow makes sense."

"What if it really is Zhao and he somehow beguiled the Spirit King and took over? He could be trying to rule both worlds!" Sokka said fearfully.

"I wouldn't put it past him." Zuko added. "I watched him die. He would rather have died than bow down to me or even accept my help. And now my dad's loose. There has to be some sort of connection."

"Any ideas?" Bato asked, looking around the group.

"I can go to the spirit world and confront this advisor person." Aang suggested.

"Not a good idea. You told us you can't bend there. It would be a suicide mission." Sokka said quickly.

"It's true I can't bend there, but there is a way that allows me to tap into the elemental energy. I think I could handle it." Aang defended.

"Aang, no one is questioning your abilities. We simply want to make sure you're as safe as we can make you. Perhaps some more information would be a good place to start." Hakoda suggested.

Sokka jumped out of his chair and snapped his fingers, "The spirits! We can have Aang ask Yue!"

"Yes Sokka, I know you want to speak to Yue, but…" Aang started.

"No; I mean yes, but not that. I mean we can ask the spirits for information on the Spirit King, the infinite city, all of it." Sokka interrupted.

"We can probably ask them where the Fire Lord is as well. They can grant visions." Kita added, looking away from Hakoda's curious stare.

"That's it then. We go to the spirit oasis." Aang declared.

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Lu-Ten had spent most of the day setting up a private dungeon for the ritual he was to perform. Ozai was called down to it once it was completed. He went down expecting a huge amount of work to be done; writing on the walls, chains and tables with implements on them. In truth, all that was done was a strange pentagram like picture on the floor depicting a star diagram of incredibly intricate design.

"That's all?" Ozai asked. Lu-Ten nodded and motioned him to stand in the center of it. As Ozai walked into the diagram, he noticed a strange smell; iron. The design was drawn in blood. In the corner, the man he had sent with Lu-Ten to show him down here was sliced open and totally eviscerated. Ozai barely managed to keep the bile in his throat as Lu-Ten closed the door behind them and began some sort of ritual.

As Lu-Ten wove his hands in intricate patterns; he muttered words under his breath with a straight face and his eyes never leaving Ozai's. Ozai could not pull his gaze away as Lu-Ten Reached across the circle and placed his palm to Ozai's chest and his fingers to his forehead. Ozai felt the strange power envelop him once more and he knew that this time, his will was strong enough to win. He began to glow and his orange light totally suffused the blue that was Lu-Ten. When it was over, Lu-Ten flew backwards into the wall and collapsed unconscious.

Ozai dropped to his knees and caught his breath. The diagram was completely gone, burned from the floor and leaving not even an impression where it once was. Getting to his feet, Ozai performed a basic firebending form and was pleased to see the blue flame come from his hand. He ran a firebending drill, not missing a beat and proving to himself that he was once again whole.

The Fire Lord was back.

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Aang: So we need to go to the spirit oasis and talk to the spirits. It's about time.

Sokka: Really! I get to see Yue next chapter! WOOHOO!

Katara: Men!

Suki: Amen sister.

Toph: I just want to feel the ground again. Earth… real earth!

Kita: We need to talk next chapter as well Hakoda. I need to tell you some things.

Hakoda: Alright. I think I can find a few minutes. Author, can we have some time?

Author: I already set it aside. You two have a lot to discuss.

Bato: So when do we get to go to the ball? I am looking forward to another feast.

Hakoda: Now you sound like Sokka.

Ty-Lee: I'm just glad Jet's back.

Jet...

Ty-Lee: Come on Jet; let's go to the spirit oasis!

Jet: Ty-Lee… w need to talk too.

Author: Okay, enough drama. Wait… this whole story is one giant drama. Carry on.

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Author's Corner:

So here ends another chapter, and what an interesting one it was too… So it looks like imotel MIGHT have been right about Zhao… though it has yet to be confirmed. I know who it is, but I am not telling. It also seems he is masterminding something to deal with both worlds doesn't it?

So, I created a barrier between worlds in the form of the subconscious mind, or a dream plane if you will. If Aang can travel through it, so can he travel to it as well. I liked the idea of locking the women in sleep and forcing them to talk things out. So a few people thought Katara took the news about Kita and her dad and her dad's death too easily. I hope I dispelled that notion. A method to my madness, there is.

Next chapter will have the scene many people have been wanting: the talk with Yue. What will happen to Suki? Does Yue come back? Will Kita really save Hakoda? Where the heck did Lu-Ten come from?! All this and more, as the avatar continues!