Aang

The sun was starting to rise peeking through the window of the avatar's room as he opened his eyes, it was time for him to go the old forrest and do the investigations himself..

Why do people only remember i'm alive when they're in trouble ? it was the first thought that came to Aang's mind as he fully woke up and remmebered the mission at hand, he brushed the thought aside, and sat on his bed, stretching his muscles then fully stood up and started preparing for the journey ahead..

drinking was like a second nature to him now, whenever he wakes up he must have a glass of wine, instead of the tea he used to drink first thing in the morning to help him in his meditations,

he realized he no longer meditates, and he hasn't been to the spirit world for a very long time, ever since that infamous day in the fire nation town, he started sipping his glass of wine, thinking about the many things he'd have rather been other than the avatar, he'd have liked to be a farmer, an engineer, anything that doesn't put a major responsibility on his shoulder..

anything that doesn't require ending people's lives. he thought bitterly, why did the spirits have to torment him like that ? what has he done wrong ? he remembered the days before that infamous day, he was such a nice, naive kid with no experience, no extraordinary traits, except for the fact that the people call him the avatar, he remembered that even then he didn't like being the avatar,

he remembered the days when his greatest concern was that the kids in the southern temple would simply rule him out of their games if they knew he was the avatar, which wasn't so far after as the kids did know he was the avatar, and the kids ruled him out of all their next games, he remembered how devastated he was having no one to confide in, no one to tell him that he was in pain, that he was hurt by the other kids' actions, even his guardian monk Sashing was a very strict man, a man you'd hardly consider an air nomad, he was so free of humour, so dull,

you'd want to claw your eyes out or pull out your ears everytime you see or hear him..

Aang gave a sigh of irritation as he finished his drink, and then went on to have a shower, put on his clothes and get the necessary supplies for the upcoming mission, he sighed again, it's gonna be a long day..

an hour later, Aang was out of the palace and on his way to the old forrest, and after some insisting from the chief he took 5 strong men with him, water benders and non-benders, he made sure to tell them about the journey ahead,

and if any of them are having second thoughts, they all murmured their denial, and that they're with him to the end..

that warmed Aang's heart, and almost made him believe that he's still the avatar he used to be, Almost..

of course the journey ahead was a long one, so when the night fell, they made camp for the night, and resume their journey tomorrow, the avatar made sure to help the men with their tents before he went to set up his own..

"I'd like to help you with the tent, Avatar." The Avatar turned back and looked at the man who just spoke, who he knew his name earlier was Petu.

he's a young man no older than he is, who has tanned-skin, blue eyes and shaggy brown hair, with broad shoulders and a well-built physique for his age, The Avatar remembered the chief calling him a Waterbending Prodigy, He can see that clearly now..

"That won't be necessary, Petu, i can set up my own tent, you go help with the rest." The Avatar said reassuring the young man.

"No please, I insist." He started grabbing the tent from the side to help the avatar setting it up, but stopped when he heard the avatar chuckling beside him, he perked up and looked at him confusedly.

"Petu, What're you doing ? i'm an airbender, i don't need to do that." Still chuckling, with one motion from his hand the avatar sent a gust of air through the tent that set it up, he looked at Petu's bashful face.

"Sorry, i guess i left that one out." Petu said with his hand on the back of his neck confirming his nervousness.

Still chuckling a bit the avatar said. "It's ok, Petu, i'd have left it out myself, you don't see many airbenders around these parts, don't you ?"

Petu's posture eased a bit as he said. "Yeah, actually, we don't see anyone but water tribemen and women around these parts, no one likes the north that much."

The Avatar nodded his head in agreement and said. "I couldn't agree more, to be honest, Petu, i don't like the north that much, i like water tribemen and women though, they never wronged me in anyway."

"But you're the almighty avatar, no one dares to wrong you." Petu said in all honesty, his face not showing any emotion of sarcasm or anger, it was just like he was stating a simple fact.

The Avatar chuckled at first thinking it was a joke but when he looked in Petu's eyes he saw honesty in them, which bewildered Aang to no end.

"Wait, you're serious ? what do they say about me in the north ?" the avatar asked curious for the answer.

"They say you're untouchable, they say you're the only man alive who can live as long as he wants without anyone or anything to force you, they say you're a god." Petu said in a somewhat excited matter.

Aang never knew all that, which made him so confused as to how the people got these fantasies about him..

"And do you believe these stories, Petu ?" Aang asked the young man, not sure how he'd react to the answer.

"Stories ?" Petu asked not sure if the avatar meant to call them stories, or was it just a figure of speech.

"Yes, Stories, i'm not all these things, Petu, i'm just a simple man, i wanna live, i wanna love, i wanna have vacations, just like the rest of you, i'm no god, i die whenever my time comes, just like the rest of you, the only difference is that i was cursed with a mighty power to protect the living my whole life, and you are not." Aang said matter of factly, not caring for the man's hurt feelings as he just discovered a fact that would change his beliefs forever.

Aang saw the disblief in the man's face and felt guilty for what he just said, he put his hands on either of the man's shoulders and confronted him..

"Listen to me, Petu, i don't wanna lie to you, i don't wanna fell like i'm fooling you, but i'm not the man in your stories, like i said i'm just a simple man, i've been hurt before, i've been injured before, i've had worse injuries than other men who people don't call gods.. i know that's what you were taught growing up and it doesn't effect your level of intelligence in anyway, actually i think you're a smart man, but please don't fall for such stories again, because that's all they are, that's all they can be.. Stories."

The Avatar finished his lecture and entered his tent leaving the man there thinking about the many lies he has been told his whole life, he stood so still that Aang thought the man was stoned to his position, then Aang heard his footsteps falling back to his tent, Aang relaxed again, and decided to have some sleep before they start heading to the forrest again first thing in the morning.

5 hours later the avatar woke up, of course not forgetting his wine, as he had a sip from the pouch he brought with him on his journey, he rose from his mat and left the tent to wake the men up, he was surprised to find Petu awake, staring at the road ahead of them..

"Had some sleep, Petu ?" Aang asked when he reached the man.

"I couldn't sleep." Petu said his face showing fatigue.

"Why not ? we were supposed to have some sleep to be ready for the journey ahead." if there was any anger in his voice, Aang made sure to hide it too well, as he had a faint idea about what's really bothering him.

"i'm ready for the journey, Avatar, i'm ready to die." The man said in a deadpan tone.

"What ? the mission isn't to die, Petu, the mission is to help me get to the forrest, you won't be doing anything farther." The Avatar said in a high pitched tone questioning the man's state of mind.

"But i'm ready to die, why can't you give me this opportunity ?" The man said again keeping his deadpan tone.

The Avatar took the man by the shoulders and forced him to look in his eyes as he said..

"What's wrong with you ?" The Avatar said in a sharp tone, that the man in front of him finally flinched and shown some emotion, that's a start, right ?

"Nothing is wrong with me, Avatar, i think i'm just tired.." The man said hesitantly.

"No, there's something wrong with you, you don't believe in anything anymore just because you found out i'm not a god ? are you serious ?" The Avatar said keeping his sharp voice but this time it was mixed with emapthy and regret.

"YES !" the man yelled making the avatar release his shoulder and step back two paces, "You were the only person i believed in, i never believed in gods, i never even believed in myself, i only believed in you, and you said they were all lies, what did you think that'd make me feel ?!" Patu yelled again, and after finishing his rant, Aang stepped forward again to confront the man..

"I said what i said last night to wake you up, i wish i could do the same for everyone else, but i can't you know why, because i am a normal human like each and everyone of you." He pressed on the word 'human' to emphasize his point, and continued..

"I'm not the man you think i am, i'm not the flawless god you think i am, i've made many mistakes in my life that i'm not proud of, mistakes that i wish i hadn't made.." He stopped to pull out his pouch of wine. "I even drink Wine, and i'm not saying that i drink it on occasions, No, it's become part of my nature, do you think a flawless god would do that ?" he looked the man fully in the eye now. "I'm as far away from flawless as you can imagine, but i do what i can, so don't lose faith in me just yet." and that was the end of his speech, after that he turned on his heel and went to wake everyone else, leaving a bewildered Petu behind.

After he woke everyone up, they packed their things and kept on their way to the old forrest..

Finally the avatar and his traveling companions arrived at the old forrest, he ordered them to stay out while he gets in alone to investigate, after some arguing finally they agree to his proposition, and they stay at the entry while the avatar made his way through the forrest..

It was creepy to say the least, every step he made through he felt like he was being followed, he tried to concentrate, trying to find any spirit around, but he couldn't concentrate, not with so much wine and scarce meditation, so he kept on going through the forrest, stumbling all the way through its vines and roots, finally he stopped at a large tree, he felt something was wrong with it, the tree didn't seem real at all, it was like its roots weren't even there, like the tree was floating, he looked down and found a stream of water, what startled him even more was that there was a reflection in the water..

Avatar Roku's reflection.

"Hello, Aang, it's been so long." The Old Avatar's reflection came out of the pond and stood behind the young Avatar, Aang gave a startled gasp and turned around sharply to face the older avatar, he took some time to compose himself and said..

"Oh, Hi, Roku.." The young avatar felt so embarrassed all of a sudden, 'it is been so long' what was he supposed to reply to that ? Should he say 'Hey, Roku, sorry for not visiting, i was busy turning into a drunken bald imbecile.' ?, not that he wasn't bald before, But still..

He looked down at his shoes, not sure what to say, until the older Avatar had an idea of what topic they should discuss next..

"What happened to you, Aang ?" The young avatar perked up sharply.

"What do you mean, Roku ?" He knew exactly what Roku was talking about, but he decided to avoid answering the question.

"You know what i'm talking about." The Older Avatar said with sharp eyes, Aang looked down at his shoes again..

"I'm not even sure how i got here, Roku, i was trying to be a better man by keeping the peace you worked so hard to accomplish, but it turned out that i wasn't the right person for such responsibility." The Avatar said his face showing shame and guilt, his eyes glassy with unshed tears.

"I know, Aang, i've been there the whole time, watching over you, it's not too late for you, Aang, it's never too late for someone with your spirit." The old Avatar said with a smile.

"The Avatar Spirit ? i don't think it's even there anymore." Aang said, still keeping his gaze on the ground.

"Not the avatar spirit, Aang, your spirit, Aang's spirit, you've turned out to be better than all of us, i may have started the peace, but after Sozin's death, there wasn't actually a chance for anyone to repel it, but you, Aang, you took over this responsibility when you were only 12, you fought to keep the peace at this age, that was just not possible, i was certain they'd start another war, but you prevented that from happening, Young Avatar, and for that, we're all proud of you." The old avatar finished with a smile on his face.

Finally Aang started to smile back at the avatar, he had a lot of encouraging words from his friends, but coming out of Roku's mouth is an entirely different matter, but suddenly the smile faded from the old avatar's face and he grew serious which made Aang anticipate a bombshell..

"But there's still war coming, Avatar" Roku said finally making Aang's eyes widen a bit and Roku continued..

"You see, Aang, you know about the ancient spirits Raava and Vattu, right ?" Aang nodded allowing the old avatar to continue..

"Well, after you locked yourself up for almost 2 years, leaving the spirit world behind, leaving your friends behind, leaving your duty behind.." Aang looked down again in shame at the old avatar's words.. "Your light spirit Raava started weaken, and as a result, the dark spirit Vattu has grown stronger, which gave him more control over the spirits." The old avatar said in a sad tone.

Aang's eyes grew more wide, they were like two plates now, "But, The Evil spirit is locked up inside the tree of time." Aang tried to reason.

"Yes, but he still has control over the spirits, when he grows stronger, he can control spirits, and the stronger he becomes the more spirits he's able to control, which means, if he grows any stronger, you can expect another war in the upcoming months, but not a war between men, a war between men and spirits."
The Old avatar informed.

Aang's insides were crumbling right now, he was afraid to no end, he hasn't been so afraid in years, he never cared for his own life, but he was afraid for the thousands and maybe millions of people that'd die becuase of a mistake he made..

"Is there anything we can do about it, Roku ?" It was evident in the young avatar's eyes that he was begging for an answer, he can do anything.

"I'm afraid the options are limited, Aang, all i can say right now is that you need to help the light spirit grow inside of you, making the dark spirit less in control, in order to do that, you have to get back to your old self, the old Aang who was so cheerful and so carefree, not that desperate version of Aang that prefers drinking wine to being a real avatar." The Old Avatar quarrelled.

he never imagined in his life to hear these words coming from Roku's mouth, but when he heard them, he knew how low his life has gone, he felt tears stinging his eyes again, but he blinked them away and looked the old avatar in the eye with determination.

"I promise, Roku, i will do what i can to stop the evil schemes of the dark spirit Vattu, you have my word." Aang said with determination and passion that he hasn't felt in years.

"I know you will, Young Avatar, for you've done it before." The Old Avatar said with a smile, causing Aang to smile back and finally the old avatar disappeared.

as Aang was walking out of the forrest, he couldn't help but feel happy about how his first conversation in years with Roku went down, but he also couldn't help the concern that took over him when he remembered the problem with the dark spirit.

he's gonna have to think about it later, now he has to go tell the chief the information the old avatar just told him, and then make his way to the earth kingdom to pick Toph up for the ceremonies that will start in 15 days..

he felt a little happy when he thought of that, maybe seeing my friends again will help uplifting my spirit.