A/N. TO READ BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER! First of all, sorry for the spoilers, but this chapter contains several heartbreaking thoughts. It deals with the murder of the Air Nomads, so if someone doesn't feel comfortable reading about these things, skip to the end, I'll put in a short recap. And for the others, the M rating is rather present in this chapter.

I mention people Aang talked about during the Flowers of Summer, like Mother Kaashi, the Mother Superior of the Western Air Temple, and Jinora, his sister.

As he opened his eyes, Aang was surprised at the brightness of the light around him… He could have sworn it was night just a moment before… Thunder resounding in the sky and clouds. But this light made him think of the long summer mornings at the Air Temple. Comforting and warm, with a touch of humidity as it chased away the early morning dew.

Starring at the ceiling above him, he felt confused. It even looked like his room in the Air Temple… The one he had got after being announced as the Avatar to the other acolytes of the Southern Air Temple.

The last he remembered were those deep blue eyes… Looking at him, with horror in them. What had happened? It felt like a fleeting dream, one where everything that had happened was so clear in the moment he was living them, but now that he was awake, the images were escaping his mental grasp.

Ozai. He had fought Ozai, of that, he was sure. He had won. But after that? Vague images of a town with high walls flashed in front of him, and the horrible feeling that Katara was in danger. Of that, he was sure. But deep blue eyes… Those had to be hers. And he had seen them! So, whatever had happened… He had managed to find her. That was something at least.

But the horror. Horror of what?

"Aang, the sun is up." A voice called, and without thinking about it, the airbender let his feet slip onto the floor, standing up. But as he did, he froze.

That voice. No. It was impossible… No. There was no way he could have heard that voice. Not now, not ever. And the ceiling had not lied… It was his room at the Air Temple. No… That was clearly impossible. He had surely misheard. And this was a dream. That was all it could be.

"Meditation will begin in an hour. We don't want to keep Tashi waiting… Remember what happened the last time I was late? I thought he would never let me go." The laugh behind the door nearly broke Aang's heart as it was the laugh he had longed to hear for a year…

Looking down, with his eyes misted by tears, he saw that he was actually wearing the novice clothes he had used to wear until he had made new clothes at Gaoling… This could not be real.

"Aang?" The voice sounded slightly concerned now.

"Y-yeah… I'm… I'm coming." The airbender managed to whisper, not quite sure how this was even possible. Gyatso was dead… Dead, with all the other Air Nomads. And the temples were ruins. But this place looked like he had known it. No dust and leaves gathered in the corners of the room, no bones broke the peace that had hung inside these walls…

Behind the door, footsteps shuffled away in the manner Aang had known them to do all his life. The old man, during humid mornings, always had trouble bending his knees, and he would shuffle around inside his apartments until the sun and the warmth it brought chased away the humidity. That sound was so much intertwined with his childhood that he had not even realized he had missed it.

Taking the two steps necessary to reach the door, Aang took the knob with trembling fingers. This was impossible, and yet… Yet, he longed for it to be true. But Katara was in danger. That much he knew… But if this was true, Katara… Katara was not. Because the one could not exist at the same time as the other. Gyatso couldn't be here. And if he was… That meant that Katara was a hundred years in the future…

What was happening?

Opening the door slowly, he was met with the wall of the small corridor he had known his whole life. Gyatso's apartment had the same organization as those of all Elders of the Temple. A small living space, which served as office, then a corridor that led to two bedrooms. One, slightly smaller, that was normally used as a guest room… But that one had become his after he had been announced as Avatar…

The wall of the corridor was decorated with dozens of small handprints, in bright colours… He remembered doing that, when he had been… four years old? Gyatso had been talking to some old nun, laughing in his office… And he had gone into the corridor, with a small pot of bright red paint. There, he had put his hand into the paint and pressed it against the wall, over and over again…

Gyatso had laughed when he had found out, and now, walking through the corridor, Aang saw where larger handprints joined the small ones…

It was impossible. He wasn't at the Air Temple. That place was a ruin, filled with horror and ghosts…

"Ah, there you are." The old man's voice spoke as Aang entered the small living space. He had his back turned to Aang, and was clearly studying the stacks of scrolls inside the cabinet where he kept his few earthly possessions.

The airbender felt the lump in his throat grow larger as he recognized the small, quick movements of Gyatso's hands and he searched through the papers. Gyatso glanced around, and Aang recognized the old, lined face. The white moustache of his mentor hung down beside the lips, and his dark grey eyes sparkled as they always did.

"I was thinking about what Sister Talla told me last time we were at the Western Air Temple! I was sure I had a scroll about it somewhere here…" Gyatso turned fully around, gesturing at the cabinet. But the sparkle in the grey eyes disappeared for a second as he saw Aang. The airbender himself had his eyes filled with tears, fixed to his place. This was not even possible… but yet, he couldn't help but yearn for this. For the simple joy of speaking to Gyatso.

"Aang, are you alright?" The old man frowned.

"Are… Are you real?" The airbender muttered, not daring to hope.

"What?" Gyatso raised his arms, looking underneath each of them, "I believe so! It would be terribly confusing if I wasn't."

Letting out a wet laugh, Aang shook his head, stepping towards his mentor and closing his arms around the man. As he hugged Gyatso, he couldn't help but feel… feel alright.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this sudden burst of affection, but to what is it due?" Gyatso laughed softly, sounding muffled by the fact that Aang was still holding him tightly. Taking a step backwards, the airbender kept his hands on the old man's shoulder, keeping him at an arm's length, look at him.

He seemed to be real. The temple felt real underneath his feet… and the sounds coming from the building were so, so, familiar… Shouts of children, the whooshing sound of air thundering through the corridors… And the happiness that those sounds brought to his heart was so welcome…

"Gyatso…"

"Aang?" The man smiled, shaking his head.

"What day is it?" He asked, feeling his voice tremble slightly.

"What day? Yesterday was the Council's day, the one at the end of each season. That means that it is the first day of summer!" Gyatso laughed, extraditing himself from Aang's grasp and walking to his desk that was littered with small scrolls, messages and drawings.

"First… First day of summer?" Aang croaked. He had defeated Ozai at the end of the summer… When the comet was high in the sky.

"Yes, of course. Did you hear the storm outside last night? Spirits, I thought it was going to take the temple out on a spin!" The old man shook his head, turning in a pirouette style that made Aang laugh before he realized something.

He had gone away from the temple after overhearing the council meeting of the end of spring. During a terrible storm. But… But he was here. In his memory, he had run away on the last day of spring. But if he was here, on the first day of summer…

"Has the comet come?" Aang asked, his voice trembling. To his surprise, Gyatso turned serious, turning to him with an unusual sternness in his grey eyes.

"Did Pasang talk to you about that?" The old man voice, normally so soft and kind, was edged by a hard undertone.

"Gyatso… Did the comet come?" Aang had to know…

"My young one, you don't need to be burdened by those kinds of beliefs… Some of the monks… They have some rather troubling ideas, Pasang among them. But believe me, it is not true. Yes, Agni's Comet will be in the sky at the end of summer, but nothing will happen."

Agni's Comet…

"Gyatso, listen to me… I don't understand it, but I know what will happen. And I need to get back! Please tell me that this is a dream! Something! Katara needs me! I have… I have to keep her safe." Aang felt his hands tremble. This had to be some kind of joke. He couldn't be here. Because, if he was… That meant that everything that had happened wasn't true. And he couldn't live with that kind of knowledge.

"Katara?" Gyatso raised an eyebrow with a soft twinkle in his eyes, "I haven't heard that name before." The smile was so teasing that it made Aang's heart ache for this to be true… But it couldn't… Not if he wanted Katara to be true.

"Gyatso! Spirits… If this is true, promise me something. Get away from here, please! As far as you can, before the end of the summer. Take the others, anyone. But hide! Go to Ba Sing Se, ask the Earth King for protection! Or the North Pole! Don't go south!"

Oh spirits… The South Pole. He needed to warn them too!

"Aang? You're not making any sense. Sit down, and do what I taught you as a child." Gyatso patted his arm softly, smiling. The airbender knew what his old mentor meant. That he should sit down to meditate, thinking about his favourite things in life.

"Please… You have to listen to me." Aang spoke through gritted teeth, not understanding what was happening. It was clearly impossible for him to have dreamt the last year, it was too long, too vivid… Too painful. But also, too happy. He didn't want the last year to have been a dream. It couldn't be a dream.

He didn't want to be back at the Air Temple. That thought surprised him, and made him feel guilty. He wanted nothing more than to be back with Katara, and know she was safe. He wanted an end to the fighting, to the horrible things that had happened to the world… And most of all, he wanted a future. A future that was filled with the promise of hope. He didn't want to keep fighting, to keep losing everything he loved…

This was just impossible. The last thing he remembered were Katara's ocean blue eyes filled with dread… Something had happened. Something that was dangerous and had made the waterbender scared. She wasn't scared of anything life could throw at her, so it would have been something truly terrible.

And it didn't make sense that he was here, at a moment he didn't wish to live in. He didn't want to be around this place at the end of the summer.

Coward.

The voice in his mind was back, but it seemed… clearer. And then, he remembered all. The horrifying weeks searching for Katara, the necklace Azula had sent them… The fear and dread he had felt at that moment, and the relief when On Ji had spoken about her. And the terrifying hours that it had taken him to get from the camp, through the wall and to the Fire Nation girl's home. And the pure, satisfying relief that Katara was safe…

But the horror on her face… That had surely meant she had not been safe.

"Where is Katara?" He spoke now, his voice raised slightly. The old man, the man he loved so much… He couldn't be Gyatso. None of this could be true. He had not been here at the first day of summer. This had to be something like a fever dream.

But if it was, why was he aware of it being just that?

"Sweet young man, I really don't know who you are talking about." The man who was pretending to be Gyatso spoke, in that soft gentle voice.

"Don't call me that." His mentor had used to call him things like that. Before his tattoo ceremony, it had always been Sweet boy. Then, it had changed into young man. This could not be Gyatso, and he refused that whatever was standing in front of him would use his old friend's terms of endearment.

"What?" The man's old gentle grey eyes looked wounded, and Aang doubted Gyatso would have been capable of feeling offended. He had never seen the old monk offended, or angry. At least, never with him. In Council meetings, Gyatso would have raised his voice if absolutely necessary, but most of the time, he was the image of patience and kindness.

"This isn't true! You can't be here." Aang muttered, taking a step backwards, feeling the back of his legs hit the low table that stood in the middle of the room, the one Gyatso and he had used to play Pai Sho together…

"So, you don't wish this to be true?" The edge in the old man's voice was enough for Aang. Not in a millions years… Gyatso would never have sounded like that. His mentor would have asked why he thought this wasn't really happening, why his mind was playing such tricks. He would have been concerned. Gyatso would have been worried, but hiding it in a mantle of care.

"Where is Katara?" Aang asked instead, knowing that whatever was happening had something to do with all this.

"Katara, Katara, Katara. It is all you think about. All you care about." The voice of his kind and gentle mentor was contorted, and the grey eyes that used to twinkle and wink at him were a hard mask of anger, "You are a coward! Only thinking about what you love. Have you ever thought what your selfishness has caused?"

The light in the room changed suddenly, and instead of the pale-yellow rays of sunlight penetrating through the window, a sickly orange hue hung in the air. An orange colour Aang recognized only too well. No…

"Have you never asked yourself what your actions did to your people?" The voice he recognized now as the one who had tormented him for weeks was speaking again. Until now, Aang had thought it had been his conscience, or something like that, insulting him and threatening him because of his actions. A darker part of his mind had thought the voice was just him, going insane.

But it seemed that the voice was something else.

The figure of Gyatso dissolved right in front of his eyes, and as he stood fixed to his place in the now empty room, he heard the first cries of alarm. Quickly walking to the windows, Aang looked outside.

The sky was being scarred by a long red and orange streak, cutting through the atmosphere. The airbender could feel the fear grip his heart as he recognized what it was… Agni's Comet. Sozin's Comet…

"I don't want to see this." Aang spoke feebly.

You caused it you Air Degenerate. If only you had been here. You could have stopped it. The other temples would have burned, but this one, your home… This one would have been saved. Your people would have been alive.

That was true… he could change this at least! Quickly running to the door, he grabbed the doorknob, but his fingers passed right through it as if it was made of smoke instead of solid metal. Feeling his hear tighten, he tried again. And again.

The first cries of alarm changed into something else. Soft, crackling roars resounded through the courtyard that stood underneath Gyatso's apartments, and Aang knew what that sound was. He had produced it more than enough to know it by memory. Firebending…

Whatever was happening… It was forcing him to live the last moments of his people.

The first cries of anguish resounded from the courtyard, and Aang put his hands on his ears, trying to shut out the sounds.

"Let me help them for the Spirits sake!"

Now you want to help them? Far too late for that, they have been gone for a century. But see what your actions have caused.

The room dissolved, and suddenly, Aang was standing in the courtyard. He had played here, had taught the Air Scooter to his fellow acolytes. Around him, he saw shadows run past him, followed closely by men in the bright red uniforms of the Fire Nation. Realizing that the shadow had been… airbenders… that had used their bending to run faster than humanly possible, Aang's heart nearly shattered as he turned around.

"What are you doing here?" The voice of his old mentor resounded loudly throughout the courtyard, as Gyatso stood in front of the doors leading inside the temple. The youngsters who had fled the courtyard ran past the old man, inside the safety of the temple.

"You have no business here." Gyatso, the real one this time, spoke as he stepped towards the soldiers, "Leave this place, we have nothing to do with your lord's aspirations."

"Run!" Aang shouted at his old friend, but clearly, he didn't hear him. The soldiers stopped in front of Gyatso, clearly hesitant. The younger airbender quickly ran towards his mentor, but in his heart he already knew that he wouldn't be able to help him… This was like what Roku had done to him when he had been shown the previous Avatar's life. He would be able to follow, listen and understand… But not to help, or even warn the people who were going to be massacred...

Yes… Your old friend tried to stop them. The voice sounded… pleased. Gratified. So did your sister…

The Southern Air Temple went up in smoke, to be replaced by the Western one. As he stood on the Great Terrasse, Aang knew where to look. This temple had been the only one frequently visited by other people, so there was a staircase leading from the top of the cliff, down towards this place, through the great metal gates. Sky Bisons flew lazily through the canyon as Aang watched what happened.

Jinora stood amidst several nuns, whispering quietly as the girls huddled around them. Not wanting to hear what was being discussed, Aang fled towards the edge of the terrasse. Here too, the sky was lightened by the comet... No, no… Everything but this…

"Mother Superior went to talk to them." Jinora's voice sounded as whisper, but he heard it nonetheless, even though he stood several yards away. Turning his face towards the girl, his heard broke as he saw the worry. But he also saw the iron will, the courage… All the things Jinora had, he had never possessed. The will to hide your worry for the sake of the others…

"Who are they?" Another nun asked quietly.

"Fire Nation soldiers. They are looking for the Avatar." Jinora's voice was hard, but he heard the underlying fear. She had known, he had been told by Pasang… She had known who he was.

"The Avatar? Why would they send soldiers to find him?" The nun murmured the question, turning her back to the children so that they wouldn't hear it.

"Why do you think? Sozin is a monster. Whatever happens, we need to protect him." His sister spoke quietly, and Aang didn't want to hear anymore. No… no…

"Him? You know…"

"That is not important. Let's hope Mother Kaashi gets them to leave." Jinora spoke quietly.

You have seen what happened to dear Mother Superior, haven't you? Hanging from the ceiling of her beloved temple. She died because she wouldn't give you up. As did you sister. Everyone here died because of love for you.

Aang closed his eyes, shutting out the images of the temple, alive and at its last moments… He didn't wish to see this, or even to know it. He had made peace with the fact that his loved ones were gone… But that didn't mean he wanted to know how it had ended. How his mentor had died. How Jinora had died. How everyone he had ever loved before meeting the Water Tribe siblings was gone.

You caused it. The least you could do is watch what you did.

"Sozin did this! How could I have stopped it?" Aang called out angrily. Why was he being shown all this? Roku would never be so cruel, and yet, he was the only one you had been able to do something similar.

Sozin only did what was right for the Fire Nation. He made a difficult decision for the good of his people. You made a bad decision for yourself that cost you the lives of your people.

"I couldn't have known! How was I supposed to know this!" His eyes were closed, yes. But the sounds did penetrate his ears. The whispers turned to surprised shouts, and Aang opened his eyes.

Fire Nation soldiers marched in, pushing the old nun who had been such a dry and strict figure in his childhood, the few times he had spent time here in front of them.

"You have no right! What is this about?" Jinora stepped out of the crowd of nuns and novices. A Fire Nation soldier looked at her, and bent his legs in a move the airbender recognized as the one Zuko had taught him the first time they had a lesson about offensive firebending.

"Oh no you don't." Aang breathed, and moved his hand up, but nothing happened. He… he couldn't bend.

The Spirit World. Whatever was happening… this wasn't his normal environment. He was in the Spirit world.

Jinora had seen it too and moved her hand up in the same manner as he had wanted to do. The air around the man's hand disappeared, and nothing appeared from the outstretched fingers.

"Sister Jinora! Don't." Mother Kaashi spoke abruptly, and she was pushed once more by the Fire Nation soldier, into his sister's arms. He could see she whispered something in the girl's ear, and heard it… Even though he was standing yards away. Whatever, or whoever was showing him this, clearly wanting him to hear it.

"They want to know who the Avatar is. They are looking for a sixteen-year-old. We both know who they are looking for. Get out of here, while you can. Find him, and warn him. He needs to hide! The Southern Air Temple is not easy to access, maybe they are not there yet."

You hear that? We didn't know where you were, but they did. Oh… Don't get your hopes up. She didn't escape. No one did. Except for the one we wanted. Only one had to die, but instead thousands died.

We. Aang had heard the misstep. The voice had said we. He had been present.

The Western Air Temple dissolved into mist, and after a few moments, Aang didn't find himself in the next moment the voice wanted to show him. He just saw mist and mist… As thick as ever he had seen. And in that fog, voices spoke quietly. He didn't understand what was being said, but the murmurs were present all around him.

Your little Water Savage told you that it wasn't your fault. That you couldn't have known. But it is your fault. Only yours. We did what was necessary, and now, you shall hear what you did.

From the fog, figures appeared. Dark shadows Aang couldn't recognize, but he took an involuntary step backwards, because each shadow seemed so menacing that fear gripped his heart. From the crowd, a figure stepped forwards, taking on more shape.

"My good pupil…" Gyatso's kind eyes smiled at him, "Where were you?"

As Aang looked at his old mentor, the old man's skin began to crumble, and the man decayed in the matter of seconds. The airbender felt himself nailed into place by the horror of that sight, the smell of putrefying flesh hitting his nostrils.

"You were away, my child. I looked everywhere for you." The skeletal fingers stretched towards him, the gesture so familiar yet so horrifying.

"G-Gyatso… I didn't know…" He whispered, feeling that his feet didn't want to flee this scene.

"You left us to die!" The skeleton, with his mentor's voice, whispered.

"N-no… I would never have done that…"

Another figure stepped out of the gathering shadows, skeletal and slender. He didn't need to ask who it was, he recognized the dark hair jutting out of the skull.

"We died protecting your secret. Everyone of us. And you dared to compare our love for you with that of one person. How could one person love you like we did? Your people died out of love for you. Would she do the same?"

"Jin… I… I didn't… mean it like that…" He murmured softly, not looking at the figures in front of him.

"Don't you dare look away. Look at what you caused."

I will leave you here. Here where I dwelled for so long. Eighty long years. You will have to live with your failures, and face them all. That is the punishment you deserve… The last airbender. Finally, at my mercy.

A/N. So… That was quite horrible to write to be honest. I love Aang with all my being, and to put him through this kind of torture is horrible. To recap : Aang wakes up at the Southern Air Temple, and the dark voice he has been hearing is clearly making up a scenario were Aang has not left the day he runs away. Aang realizes that it can't be true, and is shown the beginning of the Fire Nation attack on the Southern Air Temple. After that, he is being shown the Western Air Temple and what happens. And finally, he finds himself in some sort of fog, being tormented by his guilt.

Answers:

McChartney : Yeah, at first I thought about Azula, but she doesn't even know Katara is in the town, let alone Aang. Shoji made more sense, because he Is jealous of Kuzon, and has been kind of a creep since the beginning of the story. And after writing this, I think I'm done tormenting Aang for a while… Until the next chapter of course lol…

Katara2323 : Thanks! I really didn't now if you could survive a stab wound through the lung, but apparently, you can! Quite easily! Hehe… You see the angst I write? I want to return to fluff and smut lol.

StarJem18 : Believe me, I want so too! But the more horrible the things that happen, the sweet the reunion will be! Right...?