SPAAAAAAAAAACE!
It was the work of tens of thousands of people.
"Sokka…"
It took fifteen lifetimes to make it happen.
"Yes?" came the reserved response.
To realize it was possible, to live long enough to get there, to speed up technological advancement sufficiently enough.
"You win. At life. Forever."
It was a technological wonder; a triumph of human ingenuity.
Patiently, "And?"
It was proof that humans were not bound to the World.
"... and Science wins. Forever."
Proof that, one day, humans would be free in a way that they hadn't been for millenia.
"You get to go on it first."
"... Will you marry me?"
"Three… Two… One… Ignition…"
Little beads of water detached themselves from his wrinkled face to float around in the tiny chamber of oxygen which drifted through the vast nothing of space.
Eyes brighter with life than they'd been in eons gazed out the window… and saw the world beneath him. Just as he remembered it in his previous meditations of the Thought Chakra… only real. It was real, and, there was more. He looked 'up', through another window, and saw an endless field of stars.
"... It's beautiful," an ancient voice hoarsely whispered.
Static crackled.
"Avatar Aang? This is Mission Control; do you copy?"
"... Yes. I'm fine. I copy."
He could hear cheers in the background.
They're right to, Aang thought with wonder, pressing a hand against the insulated inside of the ship as he leaned closer to the window.
He found himself contemplatively looking at the moon that he could see from this position.
"So… how was it?"
"... We are doing that again."
The Play That Showed the Very Truth and Nature of Compassion
They decided to make the play worthy of their cheers.
Oh, the Fire Nation still had to win, they all agreed. That was the core of the propaganda. They would be outed, otherwise. They couldn't have the Avatar winning, no. They would play ball as far that was concerned.
First, they had to make it real. They had to actually do the things they'd depict on the stage before arriving at Ember Island.
Second, Pu-On Tim and the Ember Island Players needed to be taken out of the picture, pronto, and all copies of the script had to be burned. Zuko was able to take care of that by ingratiating himself to Ozai once again (it had become pathetically easy to do so). He just bought them with royal funds and liquidated them.
Third, a new play company was to be started, quietly, called the Players of Time. The name meant something only to the owners.
Fourth, the new script was written. Many roles are self-portrayals, but the audience would only be aware of that status for Zuko. Yes, Zuko would remain in the palace beyond the Day of Black Sun, not needing to teach Aang or seek forgiveness from Iroh, so he instead kept the ruse of the Fire Supremacist Prince.
Fifth, they take care to hire competent extras and rehearse the script with them for two solid weeks (it had to be perfect). In a novel move (for this life, anyway), they decided to introduce the concept of a narrator/announcer who would announce the premise at the beginning and pronounce the ending.
And last.
The curtain goes up.
"The powers were divided into four…! And all under heaven… were guided by one…"
"Things have changed."
"Yes… they have."
"It's still true."
"Indeed. I can only hope that Fire will fill those shoes well…"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Aang!"
"Be careful! He might be Fire Nation in disguise!"
"No one before me has had anything to lose. I do. I will find the Avatar."
"Where are we?"
"You're on the Island of Kyoshi, and you have some explaining to do."
The Mad Admiral laughed, "What can a banished prince like you do? Your own father doesn't want you! And you've got the scar to prove it."
A roar of rage. "MAYBE YOU'D LIKE ONE TO MATCH!"
"This isn't right!"
"It's something that has to be done!"
The Avatar slammed his staff onto the stage, and the sound reverberated.
"Those are people down there! I won't let you do this!"
And then the actor whistled.
"What are you doing?"
"You're too late."
The Water Tribe Warrior shouted:
"I won't let you! Your father told me to protect you!"
"I have to do this, Sokka. There must be a moon in the sky. Or everything will fall."
The girl stomped on the wood.
"I see with my earthbending. It's who I am. But my parents won't see."
"... Come with us."
"Uncle, how? The Avatar gets stronger every day, but he's still a child! He doesn't even know what he's doing!"
"He wants to do right by the world. It's who he is. It's what he's made to do."
"What are you saying?" the Prince asked suspiciously.
"Join me, Zuko," the Traitor suggested, "Join me with the Avatar! The world can be a better place!"
"No… NO! I can't believe… You! You're a traitor! I won't betray my country! I won't!"
But the Traitor was persistent with his temptation, "Don't you remember? The suffering we've seen! We could stop that!"
The Prince stood in the catacombs, frozen onstage with indecision.
Lightning flashed.
The audience collectively gasped.
"Aang! You're alive!"
"Your Prince has RETURNED!"
"The Avatar is alive. Find him. End him."
The crowd of Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom warriors cheered: "Avatar Aang!"
"The Eclipse has started!"
"I failed again."
"The Avatar has a teacher," the general explained to the Fire Lord, "You brother, Iroh."
"That man is no brother of mine," the Fire Lord snarled in righteous fury, "He would throw the Fire Nation to the dogs in the name of his precious balance."
"Sozin's Comet returns!"
"I will stop you," the Avatar, the naive child with the power of a god, said seriously, sincerely.
"No, Avatar," the Fire Lord returned coldly, "I will stop you."
"The Fire Nation will march across the world, bringing civilization to All Under Heaven!"
"And thus, the war came to an end, and with it, came the end of an era. With the Cycle ended, it was the first time in ten thousand years that the world was without the Avatar. It marked the end of stagnation, of thousands of years of ignorance and folly. The Fire brought its light forth… and illuminated a world full of misery. The Superior Element had the work of generations ahead of it to rebuild the world, but in the end, the world would be a better place.
"All it took was the death of a child. A person, with hopes and dreams. Someone who loved and was loved."
And then the curtain went down.
The audience was incapable of speech at the end of the performance.
They had no idea, when they walked into this theater, that they would wish they didn't have to leave. That they would wish the play never ended.
Most scandalously of all, they had no idea that they would find themselves in tears over the heroic death of the Avatar at the hands of the glorious Fire Lord.
And yet, when the announcer completed the final line of the play, and the audience sat still and quiet...
Someone started to clap.
The thunderous applause could be heard all the way from Caldera.