Author's Note (last updated 4 July 2024):

This story takes moments from the show, comics and Kyoshi novels: the comic where Kuzon and Aang hunt a dragon's egg, the mention of Yun, and the Western Air Temple episodes (the bits where Aang watches Katara sleep in this story) among others. I also "augmented" one flashback, where Aang and Gyatso throw fruit pies at the other monks. I added the spider-fly scene at the end, to drive in the point of the story.

I was inspired by the essay, "A Buddhist Perspective on Energybending," by Nicholoas Jones and Holly Jones. I struggled with incorporating all of its themes but I did my best to stay faithful to one of its key points: that in order to energybend, Aang had to render his spirit completely vulnerable to Ozai's own.

From their perspective, energybending is not really a battle of wills but the opposite. Aang freely allows Ozai to dominate his spirit and does not oppose Ozai's invasion in any meaningful way. In the show this is shown by the "orange light" taking over his body, whereas in this story this is reflected in the "exchange of memories". In my story, owing to the little background of Ozai in the show, I used the memories of past Avatars instead. I like to think of Aang's spirit as composed of himself and all the Avatars before him. When the "orange light" consumes his body, I believe it represents the past Avatars submitting to and agreeing with Ozai's worldview - the small blue pinprick which remains represents Aang himself. In the story, this is reflected in Roku's and Kyoshi's memories both advocating justice through violence - whether inflicted upon Chin the Conqueror or Sozin - as Ozai's spirit penetrates Aang's own.

On the other hand, in my story, Aang's memories focus on his life before the war (with Bumi and Kuzon) before landing on Gyatso and his people. This is where the spider-fly comes in - Aang's unwillingness to kill it and his decision to let it go becomes the crucial moment in Ozai's invasion of his spirit.

Ozai's and Aang's competing worldviews are important, because it is only through embodying and understanding Ozai's worldview that Aang can provide himself with the opportunity to become unbendable. In Ozai's mind, deliberate and uninvited violence (whether with anger and hatred or without) can provide a means for "making things right." This is a sentiment which is shared by the past Avatars: Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, and even Yangchen. The other members of Team Avatar also share this view and actively encourage Aang to kill Ozai during the finale.

Aang understands the anger (whether righteous or not) that lies behind this reasoning, but in the end, "he lets it go." As i reflect in my story, when Aang sees Gyatso's skeleton, he lets go of his anger towards the Fire Nation after Katara calms him. When he sees the desecrated Northern Air Temple, he lets go of his anger by making peace with the Machinist, Teo's father. Even in the desert, Aang eventually lets go of his anger towards the sandbenders who stole Appa. He is able to "tough the poison of hatred" because he is of true heart.

Aang spends the series breaking different illusions. When Huu helps him connect with the Banyan tree, he breaks through the illusion of separation between living things and finds Appa in the swamp. When Aang meets Guru Pathik, he confronts and "weathers the illusions and lies" within himself - he becomes of true mind. (Although there are other illusions he breaks that I've probably forgotten!)

A true mind and heart equips Aang with the ability to become unbendable, yet he still lacks the impetus for it. In many fanfics, Aang's primary motivations are his love for Gyatso or Katara or his friends. However, when Aang makes his final choice in his duel with Ozai, I believe he is driven more by his unwillingness to betray the core principle of his people and his willingness to honor their memory, than he is by love.

Throughout the series, Aang is forced to give up aspects of himself that make him an Air Nomad: his staff and glider, his robes, and his tattoos. However, he refuses to give up the core principle of his people's philosophy: "the monks always taught me that all life is sacred. Even the life of the tiniest spider-fly." He refuses to eat meat, goes out of his way to save animals on several occasions (in "Jet" and "Tales of Ba Sing Se"), and even saves his enemies when their lives are in danger (e.g. Zuko in the first two seasons). The only times he uses violence are in self-defense, as he mentions in "The Southern Raiders", with the exception of his outburst when he loses Appa. In fact, Aang spends the majority of Sozin's Comet ruminating over whether he should betray the Air Nomads' core principle to restore balance to the world, to the extent that his unwillingness calls the lion-turtle towards him and his own past lives. Even when his friends (and past lives) pressure him to kill the Firelord, Aang stubbornly refuses.

In the end, I like to think that Aang finds the impetus to become unbendable not in his past but in his present: "Aang watches Katara sleep and hears the nuns laughing among the cracks in the walls - and he makes his choice." By refusing to take the Firelord's life, Aang not only honors his past and the memory of the Air Nomads, but he also honors the world in which they existed and a future in which they might live again.

Aang does not become of true heart, true mind, and unbendable spirit due to the lion-turtle. Rather, it is because he has attained all these things throughout the three seasons of ATLA that the lion-turtle is called towards him and is compelled to provide him the knowledge of energybending. By the show's end, Aang has proven himself worthy of energybending.

In the final battle, Ozai derides Aang and his people for their weakness, and what he says is indeed true. Aang allows himself to become weak, Aang's people are weak in the context of a power-centric view of the world, and Aang's will does not win over the Firlored's Own. Ozai successfully dominates Aang's spirit and Ozai wins the proverbial battle of wills — but his victory fails to corrupt and destroy him.

Sorry for such a long author's note (even longer than the story!). I really enjoyed the final battle in Sozin's comet, and Aang's decision to spare Ozai's life cemented him as one of my favorite characters of all time. I hope you all enjoyed the story and I welcome any discussion.

Yongle.