I followed the little lemur throughout the halls, excitement pounding in my heart. With what Katara and Sokka had told me about the past 100 years, it seemed as though the playful little guys had gone extinct. But there one was, running away from Sokka and I. If the lemur was alive, then there had to be some Air Nomads there to breed it! Pushing away my lingering worry, I continued to chase the lemur. I hopped down from a balcony, assured that Sokka wouldn't follow me due to the altitude.

"Wait up, little guy!" I called out, my playful tone ringing through the morning air.

The lemur ran inside of a small, dilapidated tent. I quickly followed. I lifted the flap, an eager smile plastered onto my face.

"Don't worry, that hungry guy won't bother you anymore," I stated reassuringly to the lemur.

I looked around the tent, seeing Fire Nation soldier helmets scattered on the ground.

"Firebenders?" I gasped quietly to myself, "They were here?"

Then, I saw something that made my heart stop.

At the other end of the tent, glowing in the light of the sun, was a skeleton. It wore robes that I had grown familiar with, robes that I had grown up tugging on for attention, or crying into when things were tough. Robes that I had associated with the smell of incense and fruit pie.

No...

It couldn't have been him...

Anyone but him...

My watering gaze slowly shifted downward, locking on a shocking sight.

The necklace.

"Gyatso..."

I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I had known my people were dead, it was a thought that lingered in my mind, eating at me from the inside. But it had never become so apparent until that point. My knees buckled as I let out a choked mix of a gasp and sob, overwhelming grief overtaking my mind. Images of Gyatso teaching me important lessons and citing proverbs I couldn't quite understand filled my mind, the realization that I would never hear his voice again weighing heavily on my shoulders. I buried my face in my hands, my sobs guttural and full of pain.

I would never hear his voice again.

I would never see him again.

I would never see any of my friends again.

They were all dead.

Everyone I knew was dead.

Everything I knew was gone.

The grief still weighed tons on my shoulders, but another feeling joined it. A feeling I rarely felt, let alone processed.

Rage.

Pure, burning rage.

Rage at the firebenders who killed my people, rage at the monks for trying to send me away, but most of all, rage at myself for running away.

Then, I began to feel something different. Stronger than rage, stronger than any emotion I had ever felt. It pulled me out of consciousness, out of control of my own body or mind. My vision became white hot, blinding me.

I didn't know when Sokka came in, or if he had been there the whole time. I heard him speak, even say my name, but I couldn't understand anything he was saying.

All I could feel was that...feeling. That cold, inexplainable feeling. Wind rose around me, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I wasn't crying anymore, I didn't even feel sad. I felt everything and nothing at the same time.

The ground disappeared from below me. Was I floating? I heard a scream. It sounded like Sokka. Had I hurt him?

I sat there for a while, or at least it felt like a while, floating in the air. Suddenly, I heard a voice, it's call ringing through the air.

"Aang, listen to me!"

Despite my limited control of myself, I focused enough to listen to Katara's words.

"I understand the way you're feeling," She called out, "I felt the same way when I lost my mom,"

Although Gyatso had been like a father figure to me, I never had parents. I couldn't even imagine the pain of losing a mother.

"Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family," Katara continued, "Sokka and I, we're your family now!"

Suddenly, the weight of my grief crashed down on me again, and that strange feeling dissipated. I felt myself return to the ground. My vision slowly began to return.

As the strange feeling disappeared, it was replaced by complete...emptiness.

I wasn't angry, I wasn't sad. I felt nothing, as if my emotions had been stripped away from me. I began to feel lightheaded, the intensity of my past emotions finally taking their toll on me.

"Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to you," Sokka stated, his voice soft in a way I had never heard before.

I felt my knees buckle once again, and I crashed into Katara's arms. Her embrace was tight, filled with as much affection and care as she could muster.

"Thank you," I croaked out, my voice barely audible, "But, you were right,"

"If firebenders found this temple, they must've found the other ones, too..." I continued, "I really am the last airbender,"