Aang had never been happier in his life. He had defeated Fire Lord Ozai and the Fire Nation without killing anybody. Zuko was crowned Fire Lord, and the nation was on its way to regaining its honor. To top it all off, he had gotten the girl- Katara. She had kissed him, and they were a real couple now. They were even talking about moving down to the Southern Water Tribe. Everything had worked out perfectly, like the ending of a fairy tale. Aang couldn't understand why Roku looked so grim.
He had been sleeping peacefully next to Katara when the man pulled him out of his dreams and into the Spirit World to speak with him. Aang wondered if he could do that now because he had become a fully realized Avatar, or if the man had always been able to do so and had just wanted to make him work harder. He decided not to dwell on such a pessimistic thought.
"Did you bring me here to congratulate me on such an awesome job of fixing everything?" Aang asked hopefully.
The white haired man was dressed in his normal attire: red Fire Nation robes that gave him a regal appearance and his pronged flame hair ornament. They stood on the precipice of a rock structure of indeterminate height. Surrounding them were the pale, orange tinged clouds that Aang had come to associate with the Spirit World. Roku didn't look like he was coming to congratulate him. In fact, it looked like the opposite was true. Maybe he had done something wrong? Roku's face grimaced ever so slightly before he answered.
"I'm afraid not, Aang."
Aang's shoulders slumped. "I thought so. Why are we here then?"
Roku sighed. "Your journey, young Avatar, is far from over."
"What else do I need to do?" Aang was glad that he sounded determined and not whiny. He had accepted that it was his destiny and duty to be a tool that would keep the World in peace. Being the Avatar was no easy task.
"There is no easy way to say this…" Roku hesitated and Aang grew nervous. Roku had never been afraid to tell him anything. Aang wasn't sure if it was because the man was just that formidable or because he was dead, but he never seemed fazed by the things that would terrify Aang. "I suppose the easiest place to start is the beginning," Roku said finally. "When you ran away from the Southern Air Temple, before Sozin used the Comet to destroy your people, you entered the Avatar State.
"As you know, when an Avatar who is not fully realized enters the Avatar State, they are not in control of their actions. We are." Roku paused. Aang didn't understand who he meant. "By 'We' I mean the collective of the past Avatars," Roku clarified. "That first time you entered the Avatar State, We had a decision to make: Would we let you die or let you live?"
"What do you mean?" Aang interjected. "Why would you let me die?"
Roku looked grim. "We knew that the Fire Nation was going to attack the Air Nomads, and start the War. There have been many incarnations of the Avatar, and not all of them have been shining examples of what an Avatar should be. It is not common, but there have been incarnations who shirk their duties and reject their destiny. The World could not afford one of those Avatars, not in such a tumultuous time."
"And you were afraid that because I ran away, I would be one of those Avatars," Aang breathed incredulously.
"Yes," Roku agreed. "But some of us argued that it was not your fault. Aang, there's a reason that the Avatar is not informed of his destiny until his sixteenth birthday, and it is not just tradition. The destiny of the Avatar is a terrible burden to bear, and no child can be expected to hold it responsibly. The monks were fools to think that they could expect a twelve year old child- and an airbender, no less- to handle such a responsibility. Many incarnations argued to give you a chance, and some didn't want to wait another sixteen years for the next Avatar to start training. Nevertheless, We couldn't ignore the possibility of you being unfit."
"But in the end you decided to let me live, right?" Aang asked. He was alive, so the whole conversation seemed moot. If they had decided to let him die in the storm, he would be dead.
"No. In the end, we compromised."
"Compromised?" Aang echoed dumbly. How can you compromise on an argument about whether or not to save someone's life? Was he a zombie or something?
"Yes. We decided to let you determine your own fate. We dreamed up a Spirit Quest, a quest that would show you the consequences of your inaction, and the fate of the World should you choose to abandon your duties. We decided that if you completed the quest, We would save you, and if not We would let you be reincarnated into the Water Tribes."
"Why don't I remember the quest?"
"The quest," Roku continued, as if he hadn't heard Aang, "Would determine if you could become a fully realized Avatar, and defeat the Fire Nation. We decided that the best way to show you what would happen if you didn't act would be to have your quest start in the far future. You would wake up to a world ravaged by the Fire Nation, a world on the brink of destruction. You would have to accept your destiny and travel throughout the world, learning the elements, and in the end defeat the Fire Lord and save the world."
"Wow," Aang breathed. "That sounds like what I've gone through in the last year."
Roku shook his head. "No, Aang, it doesn't sound like what you've gone through. It is what you've gone through."
"What do you…? How could it... But that would mean…" Aang's face slowly grew horrified as realization dawned on him. Roku was saying…
The other man nodded. "Everything you've experienced in the last year has been the Spirit Quest."
"Nothing that happened was real?"
"On the contrary, everything that you saw was a version of the truth. If you were to disappear, in a hundred years the world would look just like how you saw it."
"But nothing I did was real," Aang protested. "I didn't really save anyone? I didn't really defeat Fire Lord Ozai? Did any of it even matter?"
"Oh yes, Aang," Roku smiled for the first time. "It mattered. You accomplished something great. You passed the Spirit Quest, and proved that you are worthy to be the next Avatar."
That didn't comfort Aang too much. He had spent the past year (did any time even pass) agonizing over his final confrontation with the Fire Lord. It had haunted him constantly, and now that he had finally (not) realized his destiny, he had thought that he could just relax- not forever, but even just for a week. Now Roku was here telling him that his journey hadn't even begun? It was like a slap to the face.
"I've got to start all over now. I won't have any friends or allies. Everyone I know won't even be born yet. How am I supposed to defeat the Fire Nation alone?" Aang cried desperately.
Roku only smiled. "But you're not alone, Aang. Your Spirit Quest didn't take any time in the real world, and even though We debated, our decision also didn't take any time in the outside world. You have passed the Spirit Quest, and so We will act through you, now in the Avatar State, and save your life."
"Err, I'm glad to live and all, but I don't want to be frozen again," Aang said tentatively.
"Aang, you were never frozen. We are capable of doing far more than just freezing you in ice to spare you."
"You mean… I'm going to wake up before I am ever frozen… before… the Comet?"
Roku nodded, and Aang's face morphed into a grin.
"You mean I can save my people?" He realized that he was a fully realized Avatar; he was capable of… "I could fight Sozin during the Comet. I've mastered the four elements now. If I could beat Ozai I bet I could take on Sozin too!"
"No Aang," Roku said, cutting into his glee. "You have not mastered the elements."
Aang's face fell. "You mean what I learned in the future- I mean, the Spirit Quest, won't carry over to the uh, the real world?" It was weird to refer to what he had thought was the past as the 'real world.'
"What you learned in your Spirit Quest you will know in the waking world. However," Roku said dryly, "You hardly mastered the other elements."
"I didn't master them?" Aang asked
"No," answered Roku. "Were you as good at waterbending as Pakku? Were you as good at earthbending as Bumi? Were you as good at firebending as Ozai? Those were masters of their respective elements. You were merely proficient at best."
"But you were the one who told me to master the elements in less than a year!" Aang protested.
"An impossible task," Roku said, waving his hand in dismissal. "It was part of your test. You were never expected to actually master all four elements in such a short period of time, only to try. In the end, your bending ability meant nothing to the Spirit Quest, only your determination and spiritual fortitude. You were able to defeat Ozai not because you were a better bender than him, but because you were stronger spiritually. The Spirit Quest measures your strength of character, not your bending prowess. If you were to face Fire Lord Sozin during the Comet, he would crush you."
Aang opened his mouth, and then closed it. He wanted to protest but when he thought about it, Roku was right. He hadn't come anywhere close to mastering the four elements (well, maybe he had been on his way to mastering waterbending). "So what can I do then?"
"You can go back to the Southern Air Temple, and warn them about Sozin's plan. Save your people, and then master waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. Only then can you stop the war."
"You mean there's nothing I can do to prevent the war from happening?" Aang asked dejectedly.
"No Aang. Preventing the war was never your duty." Roku smiled humorlessly. "Preventing the war was my responsibility, my failure. I knew of Sozin's plans and did not act decisively enough to stop them. Do not blame yourself for this war, Aang. It is not within your power to stop it from occurring. The culpability for this rests solely on my shoulders. Your responsibility is to master the elements as quickly as possible. Just because the war will happen does not mean it has to be the same century long war that you came to know. You can stop this war before it becomes the nightmare it could be."
"But I don't know if I can," Aang said, biting his lower lip.
Roku smiled at him encouragingly. This was the Roku he knew, the old man who always seemed to have faith in him and have all the answers. "But Aang, you've already proven that you can. Not only do I have faith in you, but now you've earned the faith of all your past incarnations. You can defeat the Fire Nation. Now go, and change the fate of the world."
Slowly, Roku seemed to be fading into nothing, and Aang could tell that he was waking up…