CHAPTER RATING: M (Language, Violence)

A/N:

Okay, after input from readers, I've come to the realization that the perspective of this story is causing an immense deal of confusion about what's going on.

So, even after all this time of writing it in Third Person Limited, I guess we're switching to Third Person Omniscient.

All for the ease of understanding.

Additionally, remember: Meta References are fun.

Chapter 23: Two Sides of the Same Coin

He ran, resolute on finally admitting the truth to her. His footsteps became lighter as he came closer, the burden that clung with this secret, lifting-becoming lighter with every inch of progress he made.

His hand turned the doorknob, and he burst into the room.

"Katara!~" his voice trailed off into nothing

Before him, Azula sat on the bed. Katara sat across from her, in what appeared to be a secret meeting.

Something was wrong.

There's no way that Azula and Katara could come to any compromise regarding anything! There had to be some way to rationalize this...!

It was a trap. It has to be. Katara had been brainwashed, and Azula was going to kidnap him like she had before, then she'd present him to her father, and that would be the end of it.

Those thoughts raced through his mind in a matter of milliseconds.

"A-Aang, don't panic. Let me explain." Katara tried to calm him, but his eyes were already frozen in shock. "Please, just sit down."

He was shaking his head. And then he took off, sprinting down the hall, he opened his staff, and began to fly. Katara and Azula chased after him.

"Stop him!" Azula whispered, and Katara reluctantly nodded. She didn't want to do this, but what other choice did she have? It was all a massive mess of confusion and misunderstanding.

Katara pushed her arms forward, and pulled them back in.

Aang felt his body seize up, and crashed into the ground.

Scream for help he thought, and took a deep breath.

"Toph! Sokka! He-" a surge of electricity skipped across the ground, it struck the soles of his feet, and his throat closed up, denying his plea for assistance.

"I'm sorry, Aang, but we just need some time to explain." Azula said to him. "Please, don't make us do any more."

His smothered screams reached no one else's ears. They carried him, and took him to the main office of the former organization known as the Dai Li.

They paralyzed him. They tied him to a chair. And with the combination of bloodbending and lightning, he found himself under their mercy.

"Please, Aang. Just, hear us out." Katara looked into his eyes, and read his expression. He's more confused and hurt than before. He looked away and let out a shallow breath.

"You're not Katara. She wouldn't do this." His head hung, his eyes, transfixed on the Earth Kingdom symbol engraved into the ground.

"She's right, you know." Azula's voice came from behind him. "The only thing I did to her was talk." Her shoes came into his view. "We're tired of seeing you in pain, and know how to solve it."

"..."

"Aang, please, just hear us out."

"..."

"We know you feel guilty about the situation you're in." Katara continued.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know who you are! Katara would never do this to me!"

"You know what we're talking about." Azula interrupted. "The situation you're in, between us!" He still held his head down, unable to look either of them in the eye. "We've agreed to..."

"To SHARE me?!" His voice burst out. "Am I just a toy for you to pass around?!"

He waited for their answer.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And no answer came from either of them. Convinced that they were playing games with him, he looked up, and nearly fell over in his seat when he saw them, frozen, as if time had stopped.

"Katara...? Azula...?" The anger and frustration in his voice shifted into concern and fear. "What's going..." He took another deep breath. "ALRIGHT! YOU GOT ME! NOW COME OUT AND SHOW YOURSELF!"

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Maybe I'm just craz-

"Whucha doin'?" A familiar voice came from behind him.

"I hate you." He groaned. "What do you want from me? Why do you keep haunting me? You want to see how I figure this out?"

"Take it easy." The raven-haired, red-eyed Trickster circled around. She ran a finger down his bonds, and cut them in half. "I think I earned a thanks from you." The mischievous smile that she wore only angered him more.

"This is what you were talking about? This is what you think I wanted?"

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down, spiderbull! You don't want to set off a stampede that you can't stop!" Her darker tone of voice stopped him. "Now, onto business!" She raised her hand, one finger pointed towards the sky.

"What? Did you do this?"

"No." She shook her head. "This isn't what I had in mind." Her eyes were glowing with joy. "Humans, so innovative."

"What?"

"That's right! This whole plan to treat you like a piece of meat to pass around the table came from those two, not me." She shook her head. "If it was my doing... I'd be gory! It'd be intense! It'd be...TRAGIC!"

"You're sick."

"I know. And I love myself for it." Her smile was even more evil than Azula's, it formed a knot in his stomach to see it.

"Why are you here then?"

"As always, I'm here to help you figure out what you're going to do." She snapped her fingers, and he found himself in a new room. A comfortable room, with a table, chairs, and even a small fountain. But, Aang also noticed: No doors, and no windows.

"Where are we?"

"Oh. That doesn't matter. All you need to know, is that..." She floated over and knocked on the solid wall. "There no way in." She knocked down the opposite wall, and revealed an infinite blackness with sparkling lights, and brilliant swirling colors in a multitude of patterns that stretched across the entirety of the abyss. "...And there's no way out." She snapped her fingers, and he found himself now laying down in a long couch. "I'll be your therapist." She was now wearing thick, black glasses, and dressed in tight clothing that he had never seen before. She tapped a pack of paper with a pointed object. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"Hey, is that a brush? can I see-"

"NO TOUCHING!" She smacked his hand away, and calmed her burning red eyes. "Now, lean back." She tapped the object on the pack again. "What is the problem?"

"One question."

"Afterwards, you answer all of mine."

"Deal." He pointed out to the black abyss. "What is that?" Caught in his sight was a mass of colors that appeared in a spiral.

"That, Avatar. Is called 'The Milky Way,' it contains billions of other worlds, but even it is just a small speck amongst everything in the universe."

"Have you been there?"

"You said one question."

Aang shot her a dirty look for denying him an answer.

"Fine. What is it?"

"How do you feel...?"

"Confused. Conflicted. It's complicated."

"Oh, Come on. It's not that bad. Trust me, I can see every tiny piece of stuff you're made out of. You're complicated. This is not." She leaned in closer and added in a whisper: "By the way...I can see it, Azula wasn't lying when she took out the remaining lightning. So how you feel about her is real."

"You wouldn't understand how I feel."

"So explain!"

"I don't know what I should do. How do they expect me to love them both?

"Why not?" She shrugged.

"I know how weak I can be. And I know that as time goes on...I may lose my feelings for one of them. And then I'd hurt one of them so much, that I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"I see..." Her words hung there for a few moments. "Aha! I've got it!"

Aang stared into her excited-now diamond, eyes.

"..." He stayed silent.

"Well?!" She asked.

"Well, what?"

"Aren't you going to ask me what it is?!"

"Why can't you just...Okay, what is it?" Her playful grin grew wider.

"It's this." She manifested a golden coin that he had never seen before. "This side, is heads." There was a man on that side, with a very strange haircut. "This side, is tails." She turned it, and Aang saw a woman holding a torch, a book, and wearing a crown.

"Who are those people?"

"This man is named Washington. This woman, is named Lady Liberty. They came from there." She pointed to the Milky Way.

"So you have been there." He asked and she winked.

"I'm going to toss this, you call it in the air, and we'll go from there."

"Wait. How do I know that this isn't some sort of trick?"

"Would I trick you?"

"Yes." She grinned

"Here then." She handed him the coin. And he took it, turning it and examining it. "A plain Golden Dollar. You only have one choice here, Heads or Tails? Pick one." She snatched the coin back.

"But I don't even know what Head or Tails represents."

"Heads." The coin morphed into an image of Katara. "Tails." The other side had changed into Azula. "Take your pick."

"I told you, I can't decide that by myself." His expression hardened.

"Okay. Then will you let fate choose for you?" He took a deep breath.

"Yes."

"Then let's see what fate has in store for you." She took the coin, and rested it on her thumb. Katara's image faced the ceiling. And with a flick of her thumb, he watched the coin spin for what seemed like an eternity, before or came barreling down.

It crashed into the ground, breaking through the wood with a sound that wouldn't be possible with such a small object. A dust cloud shot up, and when it cleared...

"Oh my Me!" She cupped her cheeks with an open mouth and eyes that were almost popping out of their sockets.

"W-What?" He coughed at the dust still in his mouth.

"You'll never believe it!" She pointed at the coin.

Embedded in the wooden floorboards, the coin stood upright, neither side had been chosen.

"How is this even possible?" Aang reached down, and with a firm grip, picked up the coin.

But it didn't budge. He tried, but couldn't lift it at all.

"You can't change what Destiny has decided. No one messes with Destiny. She's a killer." Aang's tired look was met with a nod.

"So what does this mean?"

"It means that Destiny doesn't want you to pick any side. She wants you to see both sides of the coin first."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means, strap yourself in! You're going to have one hellacious ride!" She nodded. "Oh, and stay with me on this. It could become extremely confusing. It's something that I've never seen before."

"And what exactly does that-" His head jerked to the right, his eyes focused on the coin. He tried to pull away, but couldn't find the strength. On either side of the coin, he saw two images before him, images that began to move, and he found himself both observing, and experiencing what he saw.

"It means that two things are going to be happening all at once, so hang in there."

He heard her snap her fingers.

A/N: Seriously, stick with me here, it's the first time that I've done this. And I hope I can pull it off.

It seemed like the events unfolding before him were just that, playing before him. He had no choice in what was being said, but could hear himself speak. He had no choice in what he did, but could feel himself move.

And there he sat, on a chair, hunched over. Where? He didn't know. When? He didn't know. But that wasn't the oddest thing happening. The room was split in half, there was a visible line the split him in two. Identical doors sat opposite of each other, and opened at the same time.

On his left, Katara walked into the room. On his right, Azula walked into the room. Neither of them seemed to acknowledge the other's presence.

"What are you doing here?" He noticed how he only addressed them as if they were only one person. "I told you that I as going to do this alone."

"Aang, your not alone..." Katara started.

"...I'm here for you." Azula finished.

"I have to do this alone. It's my destiny." He looked at his hands. "I'm the Avatar. I need to defeat the Firelord. By myself."

"Look, I know that you're frustrated about the airbenders..."

"...But pushing me away isn't going to bring them back, it's not going to help you, either." They sat down across from him.

In his vision, he saw the coin. Heads and Tails, split in perfect symmetry, Katara and Azula, merging into each other.

"Frustrated isn't the word to describe it. I wasn't there for them then, and I wasn't able to save them now." He sighed. "I failed twice, and now I don't even know if I can do it at all."

"I know you can do it." Katara spoke.

"You saved me." Azula said by herself.

"Let me help you." They both pleaded.

Their hands came up to his cheeks, and their soft lips met his, taking away, in the brief moment, the pain.

"It's almost time." He whispered, and returned to his feet...

And the scenery changed before him.

The burning sky stained with blood. Sozin's Comet, a massive ball of flaming ash trailed across the sky. And in the scorched Palace courtyard, Firelord Ozai stood before him.

He looked to his left.

Katara's body lay on the floor, unmoving.

He looked to his right.

Azula's body lay on the floor, unmoving.

Their bodies scorched beyond all recognition, their clothes burned and scarred in flame and shadow. His heart sank, shattering into pieces that seemed to cut him from the inside out.

"A poor child." Ozai proclaimed. "The Universe, Fate, Destiny! All sent me children to kill. First the Avatar's whore of a lover. And now, the powerless Avatar himself."

Aang fell to his knees. The burden he couldn't bear. The woman that he loved...

His eyes began to glow, and his gaze transfixed on the man who was so ruthless as to kill so many. Ozai returned Aang's anger and hatred with a perverse smile.

"Perfect." Ozai whispered, and charged forward.

And the scenery changed before him.

The Avatar State had been lost. He stood now in a cell, hanging by bonds that he had seen in his vision. Hands and mouth, bound in leather. Limbs restrained in steel.

The massive doors opened. And Firelord Ozai stepped through. Two guards followed, pushing heavy carts that squeaked with every inch they made. The immediate scent of death filled the room. And he feared for the worst.

"You were too weak." Ozai's voice rumbled. Aang tried to speak out in protest, but found no strength in him. "You couldn't even save the woman that you loved. How did you expect to bring balance to such a chaotic world?"

Aang's eyes were determined. He tapped into the Avatar State.

But found nothing.

"It is impossible. You've lost everything. And I will watch you suffer for the next one hundred years, as the souls of the dead burden your shoulders, and their cries haunt your ears."

The guards toppled over the carts, spilling their contents onto the ground.

Before him, the heads of his friends, Suki, Zuko, Toph, Sokka, every airbender in hiding he had met. Every man, woman, and child from the Water Tribes, and the last two, on both sides of the divide...Katara, and Azula.

The Firelord turned, and walked away, a menacing grin spread across his lips.

And as Aang stood restrained, he looked into every set of lifeless eyes before him.

Hopeless, he cried a lifetime of tears for every one of them.

...

His bonds faded away, and he fell to his knees. In a world of white clouds, and silver skies, a woman stood before him.

Her golden blond hair fell in waves to her shoulders. Her dress, a luminous white, pure and innocent. And in her eyes, he saw the knowledge of ten billion lifetimes.

"Arise, Avatar Aang." She waved her hand, and he stood as she beckoned him. "What did you see?"

"I saw the death of everything I hold dear. My friends, my people, innocents, and the two that I love." He spoke with no sadness, no remorse. In her presence, he couldn't find it in himself to express emotion.

"And do you understand why those events came to pass?"

He sat in thought. And in this moment, he realized who he was speaking to.

"You're Destiny." She nodded. "And now I know."

"Then, what is it?"

"I can't do this alone. I can't choose between them. If I choose one, then I'll lose them both."

"Correct." She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up into her eyes. "Do not fall into despair. For in the end, everything will be fine."

He saw in her eyes, her vague words were truth. But still could not find much comfort in them.

"Could you, show me, the ending?"

With a peaceful smile, she shook her head, and merely waved while fading away.

...

"YooouuuuWhoooooo?" A whistle came, followed by loud clapping. "Paging Avatar Aang! Come in, Avatar! Do you read me?!"

"What?" He refocused, and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh good! You're up! Did you have your..." She leaned in closer, and whispered: "...vision?"

"Yeah, I did." He replied. "And I've decided."

"Great! I told you Destiny was scary! And you do realize that this was all destiny, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah. I do."

"Okay then! My job is fine, so...Here we go...!"

"Wait!" He stopped her mid snap. "Where?"

"Back to square one." A wink and a snap later, he was back at square one.

...

Before him, Azula sat on the bed. Katara sat across from her, in what appeared to be a secret meeting.

"A-Aang, don't panic. Let me explain." Katara tried to calm him, but his eyes were already frozen in shock. "Please, just sit down." Katara was dumbfounded at his calm, if confused expression.

Knowing where his actions would lead him, he walked over, and sat on the bed. Azula pulled up a chair next to Katara.

"I'm listening."

Azula and Katara looked at each other in shock and surprise. This was the first reaction they wanted, but the last was that they expected.

"Okay, well." Katara started. "We know how much pain we're causing you."

He stayed still, not wanting to deny nor confirm their assumption.

"...We both love you, and we've decided that we can both be with you."

"And you two trust each other?" Aang asked. "No manipulation. No brainwashing. No hidden motives."

"Nothing." Azula answered. "I know that I'm not someone that you can easily trust, after the terrible things I've done. But that wasn't me." She turned to Katara. "And I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Katara nodded, and shot a playful, but skeptical grin at Aang. She turned back to Azula.

"Come here." Katara straightened Azula's posture. A light, innocent, and confused blush coming across Azula's cheeks. "Relax." Katara's hands ran through Azula's bangs, hooking them into her ears. "Bear with any pain that you feel."

Katara withdrew water from her leather water skin. Azula stiffened, but then relaxed. "That feels better. Thank you."

"I won't be able to heal it all, so, we'll need to have regular sessions." Katara smiled. They both looked towards Aang, each of them taking hold of his hands.

"We'll arrange those while we go find the other airbenders, right?" Azula asked.

Heat flooded his cheeks. Looking into their eyes, a mix of soft sapphire, and alluring amber. Both equally powerful, and loving.

"Right."

PUBLISHED ON: 10/30/2014

A/N:

Please, please remember! META REFERENCES ARE FUN!

Thanks for reading!