"Aang? Are you all right?" Katara gently placed her hand on his forlorn cheek, he hugged her and explained what had happened. "It must hurt so you so much Aang. That the people that you tried so hard to save are doing such horrible things. I was forced to use Bloodbending. I swore that I would never use it, I didn't want to, but I was forced to do it."

"Maybe that doorman was also forced to do what he did. Maybe he didn't mean to do it."

"But he did it anyway. Aang that man was dangerous, what if it was you instead of that other guy?"

"No, the one who I should blame shouldn't be the doorman. It should be the ones who sent him," Aang's face darkened.

"And that person was Mao Hojo," said the handsome attendant, "He is to blame."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Katara.

"Mao is the leader of the Kazekage. Who would pass up an opportunity to place a spy in the heart of the capital?"

"What should we do now?"

"I will need to meditate on this," said Aang going to his room for privacy.

"Roku?"

"Yes Aang?"

Aang explained what happened that night.

"There must have been quite a shock. But you must be steadfast in your beliefs that was my mistake. If you have the means to make peace, then do it. Lest your indecision will cost dearly."

"But is The Harmony Restoration the right solution? That man was ready to die for his beliefs."

"The best advice I have to offer you Aang. That in order to understand the present, you need to understand the past. After I became the Avatar I thought by keeping the four elements seperate the world would be harmony. This delicate balance is what has kept peace in the world, but it was not easy. But it was the best solution that I could come up with after I talked with our past lives." And with that Roku disappeared leaving the young avatar to reflect.

"Why can't I have a straight answer? I guess the only way is to talk to people."

"Avatar Kiyoshi, I need your wisdom," said Aang.

"Yes, Aang?" asked Kiyoshi.

"Avatar Kiyoshi, why don't the Air Nomads and the Earth Kingdom get along? They all share the same land."

"The Nomads are a strong and proud people Aang. I fought have fought them before when I served under Chin the Conqueror, as he united the land by military force."

"Wait, what!?"

"It's shocking I know that I served Chin, only to kill him later."

"But why you did serve under him?"

"Because I truly believed in his noble cause to end the chaos by defeating the feuding lords. They were the cause of all the chaos and the bloodshed."

"But in the end you betray him?"

"I betrayed my lord when I realized how brutal and corrupt he had become. When he set his sights on the Air Nomad kingdoms, it was then that I had split from him. As the Avatar I was charged with the duty of keeping the world in harmony - I am a keeper of the peace, not a conqueror of nations."

"But you helped Chin the Conqueror!"

"I did and at the time it was necessary, even noble. When I was growing up and training to become the Avatar the world was already thrown into chaos. Vassals betraying their lords, brothers betraying brothers, sons betraying their fathers, fathers betraying their sons. Those were dark times in our world. When I was a child I dreamed that I would end the age of chaos, and bring peace to the world that the people desperately wanted."

"So you brought peace in the world by helping Chin conquer the Earth Kingdom? To unite the land under one emperor. Do you think that I am doing the right thing, to place the Air Nomad countries under the protection of the Earth Kingdom?"

"A lord may command his subjects for their knees to bend to him. But he cannot mend their hearts nor their minds."

"That is not an answer!"

Kiyoshi shot back with her piercing emerald eyes. "You asked for my wisdom and I gave it to you. I cannot live your life and make your decisions for you."

"But-"

"You are a man and a fully realized Avatar Aang! You must decide what is best to keep the peace, not I! If you want peace, then you must work for justice!" And with that Kiyoshi faded.

Aang slumped back onto his back talking to Kiyoshi was trying. He was about say, "Avatar Kuruk," when he remembered the last time he communed with the laid back Avatar. When he was young he was a very much a 'go with the flow' sort of Avatar. People seemed to work out their problems when he was alive. But after what Kiyoshi told him was there more to it?

"Avatar Ku-"

"Hi Aang," said the casual voice of the Waterbending Avatar Kuruk. Aang almost jumped out of his skin and break out of his meditation.

"Crap Kuruk, you scared me!"

"Sorry, I have that effect on people," Kuruk shrugged his shoulders with a smirk. "So what's up, is that how you kids say nowadays?"

"Kuruk, I want to talk about the Age of Chaos that Kiyoshi had to deal with."

Kuruk's face fell.

"The Age of Chaos began shortly after you disappeared, and it didn't stop until Kiyoshi was almost 200 years old. What happened before you disappeared?"

"Oh, that," Kuruk closed his eyes and kept them closed as though he himself was in meditation if that was possible in his ethereal form. "Looking back there were warning signs. But at the time I chose not to pay to attention to them, as everyone was able to peacefully resolve their differences without my help.

After Avatar Yangchen defeated the old empire, the powerful lords who were left simply divided up the continent amongst themselves. After a while three powerful kingdoms arose from the ashes of the old empire. Not one of them could hope to prevail over the other two, if one attack another, the third would sweep in and defeat them both. It wasn't perfect but it worked."

By the time I became the Avatar, the three kingdoms had already reached a peace agreement. They would refrain from fighting each other, but if a foreign power attacked they would go to the aid of the other. This became known as the Treaty of the Three Emperors. In short, peace was achievable but only because each side did not want to fight."

So I felt free to live my life to the fullest without any great concern for the world's affairs. Seeing the world making good friends and fast enemies. When Koh the Face Stealer kidnapped my beloved wife, I spent my remaining good years hunting him, and I allowed events spiral out of control that lead directly into the Age of Chaos."

By the time I realized what was happening, I tried to get people to sit down and talk to each other. Wars broke out and I used my powers to keep them from fighting. But it was too little, too late. I was too old and too tired to fight."

"I remember what you said to me before. I should actively shape my own destiny and the destiny of the world," said Aang. "I want to have the world back to the way it was when Avatar Roku was alive. The Fire Nation would return their colonials back to the Fire Nation. The lands that they conquered would be restored to their rightful places. And the Air Nomads will be rebuilt, their culture restored."

But Zuko will not do what he had promised, Kuei refuses to negotiate, and the the Air Nomads have risen up in rebellion. Avatar Kuruk, what would you do?"

"Well, that's very complicated..." Kuruk said a little wide eyed. "It's tough, tough question. Oh! Here's an idea! You could lure the leaders of the world into a small room and then lock the doors! And then you'll tell that you won't let them out until they come up with a solution!"

"That's-that's not a bad idea, I'll keep that in mind!"

"Glad I could help, hey how are things with the girls, huh?" Kuruk took his elbow and playfully nudged Aang in the ribs.

"Things are pretty smooth," replied Aang with a wry smile.

"Smooth, I like it." Kuruk said before disappearing.

"Avatar Yangchen, I need your wisdom."

"Yes dear?"

"Could tell me about the old empire? I know from the monks that it was ruled by the Air Nomads that once spanned the entire continent. And now the land is ruled by the Earth People. Shouldn't they be one people?"

Yangchen was silent for a time as though trying to choose her words carefully. "The Air Nomads and the Earth People have fought each for thousands of years, long before you or I were born. The principle of the old empire was to unite the tribes of the Air Nomads, and the myriad kingdoms and principalities of Earth People as one nation. Under one banner. But it was I who destroyed that unity."

"But you did it for right reasons. The khan was a mad tyrant, you had to do it."

"Yes, I had to and I did it with the noblest of intentions. But if one asked me to do it again I would be very hesitant."

"Why?"

"I wasn't always a woman of the cloth. I was the daughter of a powerful lord in the land, the Khan of the Empire," Yangchen said with some pride but her voice changed to one of regret. "But to me he was more than that he was a loving father. In my youth I spent my days in idleness, giving no thought to my destiny nor my duties as the Avatar."

"Your father tried to control you."

"He was trying to shield me from the cares of the world as any father would. I knew I was the Avatar, I was trained to master all four elements, but I paid lip service to my studies and shunned my duties. I wanted to be married to a good man like my father who ruled with benevolence in his heart, and regarded by all to be an honorable lord."

"What happened?"

"My father became very ill. Everywhere he looked he saw only enemies of whom he must destroy. He sent out his generals to rampage throughout the country putting down rebellions where they did not exist. Eventually he was unable to distinguish friend and foe, and terrorized his ministers. Even I was afraid of him to do anything. I was simply stayed quiet and waited for everything to sort itself out."

"But he didn't get any better. Why didn't you stop him in the first place?"

"If Gyatso had ordered the monks to attack the Fire Nation, would you have stopped him?"

"No I wouldn't have, because I loved him - like a father. But in the end you did stop your father."

"I did. One day he fell of his horse and lost his sanity because of it. He had my husband killed for a crime he did not commit. It was then that I ran away from home began my wanderings and I saw how far my father had fallen. He was surrounded by self-serving ministers, supported by ambitious warlords. The very virtues of the empire that was founded on was undermined, and it became incompetent and corrupt. The more I saw more of it and the evil that it inflicted, the more I grew discontent."

"What happened next?"

"I made a pilgrimage to the Western Air Temple. The reverend mother told me of my duty of the Avatar to restore peace to the world. I swore to God that I would destroy the empire. In exchange I would give Him my chastity, I would not teach my martial arts, and I would no longer practice it once I was done with my great work. To show my conviction I shaved my head, take up my vows, and had tattoos on my body."

"That was a tremendous sacrifice, but you did right thing."

"That depends...there is still so much blood on my hands. I raised an army with dissidents and traitors and I allied myself with the enemies of the empire., and made war with the empire I killed both the wicked and the virtuous alike. Some of the men I had slain were devoted to my father - spending a lifetime serving the empire. Too many valiant warriors died by my hand but I thought it was all necessary to bring peace to the land. When I finally confronted my father, I was no longer his daughter but a fully realized Avatar. But I still could not bring myself to end my father's miserable life."

"But you brought peace to the world that would last for two centuries."

"Yes I did," Yangchen said gently. "But remember Aang, we are all human and we all make mistakes. I loved my father and I had done my duty and it was enough. As the Avatar, we must sacrifice our own enlightenment for the sake of the world."

"My head hurts," said Aang when he reappeared from his room to rejoin Katara and the handsome attendant, "I think I figured out why the nations have to be separate for harmony. Whenever two nations come together, the stronger one can't help but hurt the weaker one. They'll conquer or burn or, at the very least, make a joke of the weaker nation."

"You once told me that separation is an illusion. Guru Pathik taught that. The four nations are really one and the same."

"But I don't want them to be the same, Katara, I love being an Air Nomad. I love our philosophy, our temples, our holidays, our food - everything that makes us different from the rest of the world. As the Supreme Spiritual and Temporal Leader it should be expected that I preserve our way of life. The Air Nomad culture can't survive in a world where the nations invade each other, or corrupt each other. I have to see the Harmony Restoration Movement through to the end."

"And how are you going to do that Aang? The Air Nomads are very different from what you may have remembered, they're more-what's the word? Secular. Lord Honda shared green tea ice cream with us that was made in Kanto, and then brought it fresh to Ba Sing Se to eat. He used the knowledge from all four nations to do it."

"Sacrifices must be made, giving up ice cream should be no big deal."

Katara placed her hand onto his. "And what about us?"

"B-but you're different," flustered Aang.

"Then what about your promise to Zuko, would you be willing to sacrifice your friendship and end his life?"

Aang paused and said, "Yes."

"But you'd be acting against Air Nomad philosophy. Isn't that what you're trying to preserve?"

"It's a contradiction, I know! That's why my head hurts. I just want the Fire Nation colonials to leave. But I want them to leave peacefully."

"And that is exactly what Earth King wants as well," said the handsome attendant. "Yu Dao and the lost provinces are Earth Kingdom, the Emperor has a right reclaim these lands, and to demand their loyalty. I just wish that Fire Lord Zuko would agree too."

"You're right," Aang said with a thousand voices at once and stood with determination, as he unconsciously entered the Avatar State, "This was never about politics, this is about right and wrong. This is about good and evil. This is about justice and justice must prevail."