CHAPTER RATING: M (Language, Suggestive Sexual Situations, Detailed Descriptions of Violence)

A/N:

Chapter 39: Fire

*Ahem* (Avatar Roku's voice) PREVIOUSLY, ON AVATAR…

Chapter 10: Clouded Intentions

"What happened to you and Zuzu." Azula spoke through Aang's laughter, he saw a smile upon her lips. "Okay…Okay…Enough laughing." She herself had to stop chuckling. "I know what your problem is." She cleared her throat. "Your outburst, was because you let your anger, and fear control you. The anger and fear from your vision."

"How would you know this?" Aang asked.

"Anger and fear were the elements that fueled the fire that once burned in me." She breathed out. "If you let the flames burn uncontrollably, they will destroy everyone you hold dear."

"So what can I use to fuel me besides anger and fear?"

"You need something else to drive you."

"And what would that be?"

"What else is there? What else can possibly drive you to gain what you want most?"

…

Chapter 30: Torn

"Rest assured, Avatar. As I have said before, in the end, everything will be as it should. At the end of your path, you will find peace, and tranquility, no matter what choice you make."

A feeling of bliss washed over him. And everything began to fade.

"Everything will work out in the end..."

He heard her voice one last time.

"But you must walk down a treacherous road before you reach it."

Aang stumbled out into the courtyard, dressed as neatly as he could manage in his current state of mind. His thoughts were clouded, obscured by the scenario that played in his dreams as if they were reality.

But it couldn't have happened. They'd left two months ago, and for all he knew, they were 'gone.' His mind reached back towards the strange man he met in the Boundless Sky.

"..."

If they were gone, maybe he could master flight.

Then, the sound of footsteps, as slow and torturous as his time in captivity entered his ears.

"It's been a while." Azula whispered. Aang turned and gave her a slight grin. "I'd kiss you right now if it weren't for others who would protest." He looked towards Sokka and Zuko. "Maybe we'll have some time together…again." She winked, and walked pass him.

"…again?" he said to himself and turned to question her meaning, when he felt arms wrap around him.

"I missed you." Katara whispered.

"I missed you, too." He replied. "I'm glad you're back."

"It's good to be back."

"HEY, TWINKLETOES! Guess who's back?!" Toph's voice came from behind Katara, and made the palace rumble.

"Hey, Toph." He murmured. "Good to see you again."

Toph stopped, raised an eyebrow, and waved it off.

"I think I've made enough blind references for once."

"Hey! Katara! You'll never guess what I've been doing!" Sokka called to his sister, and dragged her away. Aang looked behind him, saw Zuko attending to his uncle, and then looked in front of him to see Azula looking down at the lower rings of Ba Sing Se.

"Something on your mind?" She asked.

"What you said." He leaned onto the railing and looked out to the horizon.

"Perhaps a dream you had last night?" She smiled.

"You know?...Wait...Y-You did that?"

"Well...You know that I can." Azula brought her hand up, lighting skipping across her fingers. "Time is running out, and there's one last thing I want to teach you. But we'll have to do it alone." She smirked. "Just you, and me. Tonight."

That night...

It seemed darker than usual. The dim candles and torches that lined the palace halls were barely able to keep the engulfing shadow at bay. The blackness only emphasized the bright, burning brazier that lit Azula's room. Aang approached her door, and with a shivering fist, knocked on it.

"Come in." An uncharacteristic, soft voice came from inside.

"It's me." He peeked through the crack of the door into a brazier that burned as blue as a clear sky, and into a fire that danced with a mesmerizing rhythm that brought him back to time when he was struck in a web of lust. She still sent shivers down his spine.

He couldn't escape then...

He didn't want to escape then.

"Something wrong?" Her silky, sultry voice entered his ears, his muscles tensed at the music of her words. "I'm glad to see that you've decided to meet me. Why don't you have a seat?" A wave of her hand, and the blue flames turned into their original hues.

"What was this about?" His gaze broke away from the dancing flames to her hypnotic gaze.

"Lightning." Azula pointed out the open window, a streak of electricity shot out of her fingers. "I want to teach you the 'purest form of firebending' as Uncle put it. Let me see your hands."

He placed his palms face up into hers. His nerves still wracked, his body still shaking.

"Uncle and Zuko have told me that you already know how to redirect lightning."

"I've only done it once." Aang smiled. "And I was only able to do it because I was protecting Katara."

"Of course you'd be protecting her." He thought he heard resentment in her voice. "Do you remember what the key to firebending is?"

"You said: Desire"

"And...?"

"Love."

"And...?" Aang searched his thoughts but could not come up with an answer. "Hatred." She finished with blue fire engulfing her fingertips. "Hatred and Anger. Are what you need."

"I don't...I don't think I can do that. I don't think that I can hate anyone. I'm...I'm not..."

"Your not supposed to hate anyone." She furrowed her brow, and puckered her lips. "But haven't we discussed this already?"

"Yeah...The first time you asked to 'train' me." He turned away.

"Doesn't that make you angry?" She stepped in front of him. "Doesn't that just make you hate me?" Her devilish smile knew the answer he couldn't give.

"...Yes. I hated you for that." He clenched his fists. "But things have changed since then."

"I know you." She placed two fingers on his chin. "I know what turns you on. What drives you crazy." He lifted his head towards her. "The most torturous, painful wait." She moved closer until her breath fell onto his lips. "And then..."

And then she pulled away.

He shook his head with a smirk.

"Forget what you were taught as a child. You're a man now. Make your own decisions. Your destiny is in your hands." He laughed at her assumption. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." He held out his hand, a small flame hovered in his palm. "How did you learn to do it?"

"You're honestly asking me that? I'm the daughter of an evil dictator that wanted to brainwash my brother and I to become his puppets. What don't I have to be angry for?" She punched the air and let forth a fireball that lit up the night sky.

"Yeah, I...To tell you the truth. I honestly wish that I'll never learn how to use it." He turned back.

"Well. If that's the case, I guess I shouldn't push you. I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable. I mean, what kind of monster would I be..." She wrapped her arms around him, and brought her blood-red lips to his ear. "If I was to corrupt the world's only savior?"

He pulled her hands apart and smiled. Turning back to face her, he noticed another message engraved into the stone wall.

"No Tricks, Just Treats III"

"Maybe some other time. In some other world. But not here. Not now."

"Well, that's just too bad. Goodnight, Avatar." She turned away, and closed the curtain to her window.

"Good night, Azula." He whispered before exiting her room, and walking towards his own.

...

It was obvious. He could feel it. Iron in his body, flowing in his veins. The memory was faint, but even his muscles could feel it. A bulb of red liquid began to form at his wrist. He waved his hand, and pulled away a solid iron marble. With another motion, he conjured water from the air, and hovered it over the cut.

A brilliance emitted from the water, and the wound began to close. He could feel it, but could not recall any instance of training from anyone about these ways of bending. Toph had never taught him, even Katara hadn't found the time to teach him.

Three messages. Aang stared a hole into the ground, sitting on his bed, he heard a constant ticking. Another breath, and he lifted his head.

A red room. A familiar red room with no doors, and no windows.

"Oh no."

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Zhéng Gú Shén appeared before him. "Did you miss me?"

"Not really." Aang sighed.

"Well, I know who did! Just let me adjust the camera." The trickster tilted a lens towards Aang, and waved into it. "Hi, everyone! It's good to be back!" It then leaned in closer and whispered to an invisible entity. "And don't worry, Veil of Flames chapter nine is in the works." She winked and turned back to him.

"What are you doing to me?!" Aang exploded. "What do you want?! Why are you doing this?!"

"Jeez." It pouted. "You don't have to be so pissy about it." With a single finger, it pushed Aang into a chair, and paced back and forth with a materialized pipe on its mouth. "Here's the skinny. You see, Destiny has a way of changing her mind."

"What does-"

"Ah! Don't interrupt!" It shook its head. "Destiny has a way of changing her mind. And it just so happens, that after a long, long, long, long deliberation, the plans that were initially in place have been tossed out the window, into the abyss, and a new plan is in place!" It turned to look at him with a cheesy grin. "You could say...There's been a...Change of Heart!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Aang's anger was extinguished and replaced by confusion. "Are you going to tell me what's going to happen?"

"Not allowed to!" It jumped. "But I just so desperately want to reveal the secret to everyone!" It cleared its throat. "But anyway! Shouldn't you say 'thank you' to me?"

"To you?" Aang raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because, I gave you extra time to learn what you need to do what you must do! So...go on. Thank me."

"There isn't anyway I'm leaving here until I do, is there?"

"Nope!"

"Then..." He took a deep breath. "T-Thank you."

"You are absolutely welcome." It jumped up. "Now, with that our of the way. This car has stalled on the shoulder for far too long. Let's get this show on the road!"

It raised its hand.

"And remember: I'm always watching."

And snapped its fingers.

...

Fire. Far off in the distance there was nothing but an inferno that stained the marvelous marble towers of his home into blackened peaks, as dark as the mountains surrounding them.

Obsidian smoke rose into the clouds like dancing threads of death, swirling into the air from the the Inner Sanctuary to the emerald pastures and terraces across the massive chasms that held an infinite abyss hidden by a thick white mist.

A hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his disbelief. He turned to Katara, her expression only compounding the worry in his mind, and the knot in his stomach. His fists were clenched, his heart was racing, his mind was blank.

He prayed that this was just another nightmare.

PUBLISHED ON: 09/22/2015

A/N: I said that I was going to upload it all at the same time before 11/10/2015. I'll stop making announcements via Author's notes now.

Thanks for reading!