A/N: I'm back, everyone! I hope no one got too impatient waiting for me! Unfortunately, however, I'm leaving tomorrow night to go to Italy for two weeks. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to upload anything (I'm still unsure of what the connection will be like where I am staying) but I can promise that when I get back, there will be chapters galore!

Part Two: The Journey

"I need your help finding the Avatar."

"Hm. doesn't sound too fun."

"Does the end of the world sound like more fun?"

-Fire Lord Zuko to Bounty Hunter June, prior to the Failed Invasion of the Earth Kingdom during Sozin's Comet

I walk a few steps behind the Fire Nation Princess on our way to one of the meeting rooms in the Regia. I am a bit surprised that the Princess refused to change into her Fire Nation armor, but no matter. I am a little bit touched, too. She would rather wear the whites of the Energybenders than her own Nation's reds. Maybe she just enjoys wearing our style of clothing. It can feel very elegant when compared to the shorts and t-shirts everyone else seems to be wearing nowadays.

I push a lock of silver hair out of my face, and make sure my trademark silver circlet is straight on my forehead. I look down at my clothes; make sure they are all smooth and appropriately ordered. I check my nails, my arms, and when I am convinced they are perfectly prepared for the coming encounter, I look up and smile at the back of the Princess's head.

We approach a door flanked by two white Energy Guardians. I let out a puff of breath, glad that there are no Imperial Firebenders guarding the door. That means it is not the Fire Lord making a surprise visit, which is a very good thing. He has come from time to time, making sure to catch the Regia at its most inconvenient moment.

The door opens, and I follow Cathra through into a small room. Plush white chairs are arranged in a circle. In the chair directly opposite from the door is a woman with thick red lips, silvery-blonde hair, and wearing a white Energybending robe. The lines of her robe are glowing purple, like my father's robe, so I know that she is one of the four Masters.

The woman, who has a name I should probably remember, stands up. I notice that she is wearing a topknot on the center of her head. She must be the Master that serves the Fire Nation, I realize. I immediately drop to a knee.

Cathra seems to know the woman. "Master Marcian!" She says energetically. "It's so good to see you again!"

I do not look up from the floor, but I assume the Master must be embracing the Princess. "Oh, Princess Cathra, by the Gods how you've grown! Last time I saw you, you were practicing your Firebending in the Palace courtyard!"

Cathra laughs. "That was only a few years ago, Master Marcian."

The Master drops her voice conspiratorially. "Well, when you've seen as much of the war as I have, hours turn into days!" The Master raises her voice to its normal levels. "Oh, Iulia! Don't kneel in front of me darling, your father would have my head."

I rise, and bow before the Energybending Master. "Master Marcian, it is an honor to welcome you to the Regia again." I say.

"Oh, well I came for the Council meeting, and then I got a call, so I'll only be here a few more hours." Master Marcian says, huffing a little. "I forgot how much I missed being back home." She gestures at the assembled chairs. "Please, sit down!" She winks at the Princess. "We have a lot to discuss."

The Master sits down, and the energy on her robe dies down to a faint purple glow. Princess Cathra and I sit down as well, forming a triangle with the Master. The Princess and the Master cross their legs and sit very lady-like. I curse my choice of clothing and how it prevents me from doing so. I am wearing a tight dress like the one I wore yesterday, except this one has silver piping down the back instead of ornate symbols around the neck.

Master Marcian focuses on Princess Cathra. "Princess, your father wants you to return home."

The effect is immediate. Princess Cathra's face turns red. "No!" She says vehemently. "I like it here."

Master Marcian nods. "Yes, the Regia is beautiful, and Elysium is one of the wonders of the world, but your father has requested your presence."

Princess Cathra crosses her arms, and I make a mental note to tell her never to do so again. It is one of the rudest poses for someone to take. It conveys disrespect, lack of attention, and stubbornness. "I'm staying." Princess Cathra says again.

The Energybender closes her eyes. "Princess Cathra, please. Fire Lord Ursan has asked me to bring back both you and one of his old Admirals. He says that he has important jobs for both of you."

I look at Princess Cathra, who still has her arms crossed. "I'm not going." She says. I see the fire in the Princess's eyes, and I know that she is firmly entrenched in this matter.

The Energybending Master is silent for a few moments, and when I turn my attention to her, I realize she is staring at me. "Lady Impera," the Master says. "Please use your famous negotiation skills and assist me."

I fight back a laugh. Master Marcian needs help from me? I think for a few moments, push the humor out of my head, and ask myself what Aelius would do.

What Aelius would do would probably be to tie Princess Cathra's hands behind her back, put a black bag over her head, and knock her unconscious for the trip to the Capitol. If she were to wake up and begin fighting for her freedom, he would knock her unconscious again.

I feel my eyes widen as I realize what the only obvious course of action is. Iulia, I tell myself. You fool! How did you not think of that at first?

I smile and look at Princess Cathra. Aelius will hate me for doing this, but it will be good for him. "Princess Cathra," I say in my most diplomatic voice, "Lord Aelius will be happy to accompany you on your journey."

The Princess's face lights up. "He would?"

I widen my smile to counteract the guilt growing inside of me. "He would." I say. I do not mention how long it will probably take him to become happy about accompanying the Princess, nor do I mention how he will probably be the opposite of happy for the first few days of the journey.

I feel Master Marcian's eyes on me, and I turn to look at her. "Would it be alright for my brother to accompany Princess Cathra?" I ask. I see a shadow pass over the Energybending Master's face, but it is gone before I can devote any attention to it.

Master Marcian smiles. "Oh, of course! I'm sure Aelius would love to visit the Fire Nation!"

I smile and blink a few times. If only she knew.

I find Aelius in one of his training rooms in his wing of the estate. He is not facing the doorway, so I am not sure if he knows that I am watching him throw knives against a target. The knives dig deep into the synthetic flesh of the target, and more than one go right through to hit the wooden boards beyond the target.

I lean against the doorway for a few minutes. I cannot see Aelius's face, but I can read his body. His muscles are tense, he is repeating each throw in exactly the same way, and his breathing comes in short huffs. He is upset about something. I curse in my head. Why did everything have to happen now?

Aelius throws his last knife. "Go ahead, say it." He walks over to the target and begins yanking out his long knives and stabbing them into the sheaths strapped to his legs.

I sigh. "Say what, Aelius?" For once, I am not quite sure what he means. There are too many options of things for me to say.

My brother walks behind the target and begins wiggling the knives that went through the target out of the wood. "I should be practicing my Energybending."

I catch a glimpse of Aelius's face. His eyes are red, as though he has been crying. My stomach drops. "No. That's not it."

Aelius walks back to his original position in front of the target. He pulls a knife out of a sheath, assumes his throwing stance, and hurls the knife at the target. It hits dead center, and sinks all the way to the hilt. "Some times I really wish father hadn't let me off easy on the trials."

I close the door behind me and take a few steps into the room. The marble flooring feels cold and hard on my bare feet. "Ael, so what if you aren't an amazing Energybender. You can use every other weapon on the planet."

Aelius stops in the middle of a throw. He turns around to look at me. The knife he had been about to throw is still in his hand, and it twinkles in the light of the crystals in the ceiling. "So what?" He asks no one in particular. "I wasn't born with a sword for an arm. I was born an Energybender."

I shake my head. "Aelius, you don't have to be perfect. No one is."

Aelius swings around back towards the target and hurls the knife overhanded. It hits the rope suspending the target from the ceiling. The target falls to the floor with a dull thud. The knife continues its path and embeds itself in the wood against the far wall. "I know what the problem is now." Aelius says softly.

I nod, even though I know Aelius cannot see it. Everyone that knows Aelius knows what the problem is. He is too emotional, too quick to anger, too rash. He does not think things through to the end. He focuses on what will happen in the next ten seconds instead of the next hour. Energybending is heavily reliant on the human brain, thoughts, and intentions. If an Energybender cannot focus on his or her bending, the energy they are using will not be as effective. It can even, sometimes, go haywire and off path.

Aelius is unfortunate because at any other element, he would succeed. He has the wits of an Airbender, the stubbornness of an Earthbender, the grace of a Waterbender, and the ferocity of a Firebender. He does not have the mind of an Energybender. He cannot grasp the continued focus that is required to generate and control light.

Aelius is still. "I'm not meant to be an Energybender." He mumbles.

"Oh, Ael…" I say. I walk up behind him before he starts crying. I know he is about to, because I know my brother better than anyone else in the world possibly could.

I throw my arms around my brother, who's body is already shaking. Damn it, damn it, damn it Iulia, I yell at myself inside my head. Did you have to push him so hard earlier?

"Aelius," I say softly. "I think you need to take some personal time."

"Like where?" my brother asks. His body stops shaking. "Where could I go?"

I raise an eyebrow. His voice is calm now, as though nothing ever happened. I look at his posture. It's relaxed, but something is off. It's like he's forcing himself to be calm now.

I take a few steps back from him. "The Fire Nation. Master Marcian is going to be taking Cathra back to the Capitol. I think-" I pause and take a deep breath. "I think you should go with them."

Aelius turns his head to look at me with one eye. His eyes are still red, but they are calm. "How long?" He asks. His voice has an odd tone to it. I have never heard it in his voice before. It reminds me of how our father used to speak after our mother died.

"Until you come back." I say. I was going to tell him only a few days, but after hearing him, I think he may need longer. I do not want my only brother to snap like our father did. I cannot be the only sane one in our family.

Aelius looks back at the target that is still lying on the floor. Aelius has never had any real experiences outside of Republic City. He went to the Eastern Air Temple once with our father, but that was only for a few days while father inspected the fortifications of the Temple. I know though that Aelius isn't bothered by the concept of going somewhere new; he never is.

He's upset because he feels like he doesn't belong with his own people.

I reach out and put a hand on my twin brother's shoulder. Under the thin fabric of his muscle shirt, I can feel how cold he is. "You've never been on a vacation before. This will be good for you."

Aelius doesn't turn around. "Thanks for volunteering me." He says, jerking his shoulder out from underneath my hand. I pull back as if he tried to bite me.

I understand his point, though. "It was the only way Cathra would go back home. The Fire Lord wants her to come back home. Master Marcian-"

Aelius spins around. "I don't care about the damn Fire Lord!" He yells. He throws his hands in the air.

The light in the room suddenly starts to flicker. I look up at the crystals embedded in the ceiling and see that they are blinking in and out of life. I stare at them for a few seconds, wondering how that could be possible.

"Everyone tries to control us somehow," Aelius continues to rage. "Whether its by keeping us so isolated underground that we can't do any damage, or if its by paying us to do their dirty work for them!" Aelius continues to make angry gestures with his hands, but I only see them from the corner of my eyes.

A small stream of glowing white dust is slowly flowing out of each of the crystals. With every second that passes, the crystals continue to get dimmer and dimmer. The stream of light particles, for that is the only thing they can be, remain flowing out of the crystals like blood flowing from an open wound.

Aelius throws his hands up in the air, and my mouth drops open when I finally understand this strange phenomenon.

"Aelius," I say.

He stops mid-rant. "What?" He shouts. "What could it possibly be now?"

"Aelius, your hands." I say, pointing.

Aelius brings his hands down to his chest. He is still panting hard, but his breathing stops completely once he notices the condition of his hands.

They are glowing.

"What in the Gods…" Aelius blinks a few times. When he resumes breathing, it is deep and ragged. I see his eyes slowly trace the rivers of light flowing into his hands. His pupils are wide with fear.

The crystals in the ceiling finally die out, and the only light in the room now comes from my brother's glowing hands and the slow meandering rivers of light that flow into them. The white light coming from Aelius's hands is enough to illuminate the room around us, and the light from the streams illuminates the walls and ceiling.

"Iulia," Aelius says softly. I look at him, and realize that he is looking at me. "What is happening to me?"

I look at my brother. When we were younger, and we first found out that Aelius could change things into pure energy, we had attributed that to his great potential as an Energybender. No one could explain how he did it, but that was fine. People have only been capable of Energybending for the past forty years. It is possible that several aspects of the art have yet to be discovered.

More than possible, I realize. It just happened.

"Aelius, you just figured out a new Energybending technique." I say, trying to keep from jumping up and down with joy and excitement.

Aelius looks at his hands. The streams of light have been totally absorbed now, and his hands glow bright with a white light. "It feels… weird." He says, examining his newfound power.

An idea strikes me, and I swiftly move over to Aelius's knife target. I take a deep breath and pick it up by the rope that connected it to the ceiling. I lift it so that the rope is close enough to the portion of rope still hanging from the ceiling, and I tie a knot to reconnect the target to the rope.

Then I move out of Aelius's way, and feel the flutter of discovery inside of my chest. "Energybend on the target, Ael. Lets see what you can do."

Aelius turns around and looks at the target. It's styled to look like a human torso, and it even has a head with dull eye sockets. It should be easy for him to hit the target with his Energybending, but I still see some doubt in his eyes. In the glow of his hands, I can just barely make out his expression. He is solemn, and not at all excited as I am about what is occurring.

"What should I do?" He asks.

"Just throw a sphere at it, or something." I say. I can't keep my energy out of my voice.

Aelius closes his eyes. A few moments go by, and I wonder if he is going to do anything, but then he pulls back his arm and forms a fist with his hand. He turns his body back and then snaps his arm forward.

A massive flash of orange light illuminates the room, then a thunderous crack and a boom roar so loud I swear the walls shake. The force from the explosion knocks me off of my feet, and I collide with the wall behind me. I close my eyes in an attempt to shield them from the flash of light. I feel myself fall to my knees, and my hands instinctively move to cover my ears.

When I open my eyes, I can't see a thing. I feel my heart pounding in my chest. Oh Gods, I realize. I've gone blind.

Dark purple and green shapes move in front of my eyes, but they are the only things I can see. Desperate to see again, I hurriedly pull one of my hands from my ears and open my hand. I sigh in relief as a glowing orb pops into existence above my palm, and I can see again.

I look around the room. The light from my sphere isn't enough to illuminate it all, so on an instinct I shoot three quick energy spheres at the three largest crystals I can see embedded into the ceiling. The crystals absorb the light, and soon intensify to their normal levels.

I can now see the room clearly. Aelius is lying back against the wall directly opposite the knife target, his eyes panicked and darting around the room. I rush over to him and grab him by the shoulders. His quick breaths let me know that he can breath, and when he looks at me I know that he can see.

"Aelius, are you ok?" I ask, making sure my brother didn't suffer brain damage.

My heart drops as Aelius's only response is to slowly raise a hand, which is no longer glowing, to point behind me. Gods, I curse inside my head. He hit his head hard.

"Aelius, it is going to be alright," I say loudly and slowly.

Aelius looks at me like I've grown another head. "I'm fine Iul, but turn around."

My heart lifts inside of me when Aelius talks, but my mouth drops when I turn around. Where the target once was is now only a rope hanging from the ceiling. The wood covering the wall behind the rope has a large hole in the center of it, and I can see that a chunk of the marble wall behind that is missing as well. I look around the room and see marble shards, wood splinters, and pieces of the target scattered around every corner.

"Oh," is all I can say.

Aelius sighs sadly behind me. "I'll get the broom."