Collide

by FoxBlitz

Katara had been so sure of her plan to liberate the prison rig. How was she to know how efficiently the guards would respond to an uprising? Zuko had been positive that his best course of action was to travel separate from his Uncle. What else was he supposed to do when he came across a person from his past? Sometimes, through all the doubt, two people collide. Eventual Zutara.

41. Ch 41 - The Fog of Lost Souls

Chapter 41 - The Fog of Lost Souls

Each step forward was measured. Zuko couldn't see more than a foot in front of himself through the billowy ashen haze. He couldn't be sure he was about to walk into something or someone. Already he had nearly collided with a large rock. He didn't want to fall into an unseen crevice or fissure. Needless to say, progress was slow going.

"I just need to make it through this place, right? I can do that," the Fire Prince reassured himself encouragingly. "Just one step at a time. Nothing to it." A faint, almost muffled shuffling to his left had the firebender instantly on edge as Zuko spun, on full alert.

However, it wasn't a creature of the deep or some raging spirit come to claim him. No, it was a person. Just a normal person. Stumbling along.

Zuko nearly reached out to shake the person's shoulder, only to notice another figure from within the heavy smoke. Then another, and another. It was almost as if the fog was parting deliberately to show the Fire Prince more and more people wandering within.

And each and every one of the people that Zuko saw appeared to have a distant look in their eye. Many just stood there blankly. Some were cowering. Others chasing after something. A few had curled themselves up into a ball as they whimpered pitifully. And one individual just kept punching a stone in front them, despite their fists having long since becoming a bloody mess.

Zuko could feel the fear, the worry, the distress at the plight of the other people locked away in the fog. It was almost palatable. Before Zuko could decide what to do, another figure began to lumber slowly in the Fire Prince's direction, mumbling to himself absently. "I am Zhao the conqueror! I am the moon slayer! I will capture the Avatar! I am Zhao the conqueror! I am the moon slayer! I will capture the Avatar!"

The former Fire Admiral's hair was completely disheveled and his eyes were wild and unfocused. Zhao was still dressed in the same armor as the day of the siege on the Northern Water Tribes.

"Zhao?" mouthed Zuko softly, confused at seeing a familiar face. Even if that familiar face belonged to a cruel firebender who had attempted to challenge him at every turn. "Is this where the Ocean Spirit dragged you off too?"

At the sound of the Fire Prince, Zhao paused mid-step, his ramblings momentarily forgotten. The Fire Admiral's head snapped towards the younger firebender eerily. "You! I won't let you claim the Avatar, you banished prince! He is mine to capture! The glory is mine to take!"

The haggard Fire Admiral rushed up to Zuko and seized the Fire Prince by the cuff of the teenager's tunic. "You look different." Zhao blinked, settling his gaze. "Your phoenix tail is gone. You've been even more dishonored. Defeating you will be even easier than I thought! Then, no one can compete with me for the glory of capturing the Avatar!"

"Get off of me!" shouted Zuko as he grabbed Zhao's arm and twisted sharply. Using his body weight against the Fire Admiral, Zuko shoved Zhao onto his backside. With that, the Fire Prince fled off into the mists. Zuko didn't have time to deal with Zhao right now.

"Come back you coward of a prince! Face me! I am Zhao the conqueror! The moon slayer! I will capture the Avatar! Victory will be mine!" Zhao's frantic rants faded in the distance as the Fog Spirit quickly overtook the man back into its clutches.

Zuko slowed his urgent run after a couple of seconds of realizing that Zhao had not given chase. Straining his ears, Zuko ensured that he did not hear Zhao pursuing him. Breathing out with a relieved sigh, Zuko muttered, "Okay, well, now I know what happened to Zhao. That mystery is solved." Checking his unknown surroundings, Zuko affirmed, "I can't stay here. It's like this place messes with your mind."

Frowning as he looked to the left and then to the right, it became readily apparent to the Fire Prince that he hadn't the slightest clue as to where he was now. Not that he did when he first enter this fog, but the hurried sprint through the mists did little to apprise him of his possible location within the valley.

The abundant miasma had returned and Zuko's vision diminished to a small circle around him. He couldn't hear, see, or sense the other wanderers he had just seen a moment ago. It was like he was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

An involuntary panic started to rise up from deep within the Fire Prince as his breathing quickened. Growling, Zuko stamped that feeling back down. 'Calm down!' he shouted at himself in his mind. 'I don't care how long it takes. I'll find Katara's soul. Whether it's here or somewhere else. I will find her.'

His resolve renewed, the Fire Prince was nearly startled by the sound of whimpering. However, this didn't sound like a person's whining. The tone was lower, more animalistic. There was a defensive fierceness to the guttural wail.

Eyes scanning, Zuko shook his head. He wasn't going to find the source of this moan with his sight. Taking a step towards the noise, the Fire Prince paused. Did he even need to find the source? What if this was a trick? Or at the very least a distraction. One meant to lure him further and further away from his goal.

Zuko was about to take a step back, when the animal whine echoed yet again in the haze. Gritting his teeth, Zuko continued forward, trusting his ears to get him to where the sound was the strongest.

It didn't matter if this was a trick or a distraction. Someone or some creature needed assistance. And if Katara had been here next to him, then she wouldn't hesitate to lend a hand. Zuko could do no less.

The animal whimper seemed to echo off the rocks hidden in the fog, but eventually, Zuko checked underneath an outcropping of stones. There, tucked away in the crude shelter was a injured and frightened small animal.

"I'm here to help," urged Zuko as he knelt down next to the opening to the rock outcropping. A snarl from the agitated animal answered the request.

The opening to the outcropping wasn't very large. 'This is a bad idea,' calculated Zuko in his head as he blindly reached into the opening with his hand in an attempt to reach the injured animal who refused to exit its shelter.

Wincing as he was proven right, Zuko fought down a curse from escaping his lips as he slowly withdrew his arm, a shaking polar bear pup biting down on his wrist. With his other arm, the Fire Prince softly stroked the head of the pup, who in turn drew back as if expecting to be struck in response to the bite.

"That hurts, you know," comforted Zuko as he continued to pet the pup. "You don't have to be frightened."

When the expected strike never came, the polar bear pup gingerly released its jaw from the Fire Prince's hand. "There you go. See, you can trust me," soothed the firebender.

Standing back up, Zuko carried the polar bear pup in his arms as he looked around. "What are you doing all the way out here? How did you get all the way out here? You don't seem to be a spirit animal."

Sensing that it was with a friendly companion, the polar bear pup responded by rubbing its head against the Fire Prince's chest. Then, tucking its head against Zuko's shoulder, the young dog drifted off to sleep.

"You must have been tired," noted Zuko as he observed the animal in his arms. "Just how long where you tucked away under there?" Expectedly, Zuko didn't receive an answer.

Picking a seemingly random direction, Zuko continued onward. "Well, I do welcome the company. You may be asleep, but you're the first pleasure creature I've come across in the Spirit World."

Several minutes passed like that. The Fire Prince feeling comfortable for what felt like the first time in a long time as he continued to chat one-sidedly with the resting puppy in his arms.

It was almost enough to forget what he was doing here in the first place. Or the fact that he was just walking through what appeared to be a ceaseless abyss. Or that he had not come across another soul for some time now.

Narrowing his eyes as he attempted to strain his vision to see through the fog, Zuko's breath caught as he heard a faint voice cut through the windless valley. "Zuko..." The Fire Prince froze. He knew that voice. "Zuko..." It belonged to someone who he had not seen in years. "Zuko..." Someone who he had searched for tirelessly in the past.

"It can't be..." whispered Zuko as he turned to face the source of the voice. He paled as he watched an almost transparent woman emerge from the mists becoming more and more visible the closer she approached. "Mother?"

"Oh my sweet little Zuko," soothed Ursa as she held her arms wide open for a hug.

Without concern, Zuko rushed quickly to be embraced his Mother, tears in his eyes. "This is where Father sent you? To the Spirit World?" Zuko felt a sense of warmth as he felt his Mother hug him tightly in her arms. "I thought you were gone forever."

Ursa smiled. "I was gone. You abandoned me. You forgot me. You forgot yourself." Her grip on him grew tighter and tighter. "I told you to always remember who you are. And you forgot. You forgot for the longest time."

"Mother, you're hurting me," protested Zuko as he struggled within her constricting embrace.

"I gave up my life for you to live. And how did you repay me? You betrayed the Fire Nation. Betrayed your family. You let your Sister die. You were supposed to protect her. Keep her safe. And not only that, but you killed your own Father. Your flesh and blood. Perhaps the cruelest one of our family was actually you," condemned Ursa, her voice growing colder and colder.

Zuko finally broke out of Ursa's arms. "You're not my Mother! You have the same face, but you are not her. Begone apparition!" Tugging the polar bear pup protectively with his back arm, Zuko maintained a sideways ready stance with his other arm ready to fight back. However, once challenged, the figure of Ursa simply evaporated back into the mists.

A slow clap echoed behind Zuko as Azula walked out from the fog next. "Good job dear Brother. Who knew you had it in you to denounce our Mother?"

"I know you're not real," hissed Zuko as he stared his Sister down. "Just like this place attempted to use Mother's appearance against me, now it's trying to use you."

"Nobody uses me, Zuzu. I am the master of my own fate." Azula smirked. "Unlike you."

Frowning, Zuko didn't respond otherwise.

If she was annoyed at the lack of response from her Brother, Azula didn't show it. "How very serious of you. Do you really think you can figure out what is real and what is fake here, Zuzu? You've never been any good at discerning lies."

"I can and I will," affirmed Zuko. "I will find a way to revive Katara and together we will rebuild the Fire Nation that you and Father have tarnished."

Casually walking around her Brother as she traced her index finger along his shoulders, Azula replied in a lackadaisical tone, "But what if you can't? I mean, you don't exactly have the greatest track record of succeeding at anything you set out to do."

"I succeeded in overthrowing Father," shot back Zuko as he gripped the slumbering polar bear pup in his arms.

A dark laugh escaped from within Azula as she walked off a couple of steps to Zuko's side. "Did you now? Are you so certain? Father's influence spreads far and wide. Do you truly believe the entirety of the Fire Nation will kneel before you? You? The shame of the family?"

The grimace on Zuko's face was the only response the Fire Prince gave.

"You tried to be Father's perfect little son and you got scarred for life and banished," continued Azula relentlessly. "You tried to capture the Avatar and nearly got yourself killed in the snow and then exiled for your troubles. You tried to evade me in the Earth Kingdom, only to have your friend's home burned to the ground. And not only that, but your actions motivated me to capture Ba Sing Se." Azula grinned wickedly at her Brother. "Face it Zuko. Nothing you ever attempt to do, succeeds."

The tightening of Zuko's fist, from the arm not holding the polar bear pup, displayed what the Fire Prince thought of his Sister's words.

"This time will be no different," teased Azula callously. "You'll struggle to rule. You'll make decisions that will endanger our people. The other nations will scheme behind your back. And eventually, you'll either fade away into obscurity or be removed from power by those you had once considered allies."

Shaking his head, Zuko stared down his Sister angrily. "That's not true! I will succeed in restoring honor to the Fire Nation and prosperity to the world with my friends."

Turning back around to mock her Brother some more, Azula countered, "And where are you right now? In the Spirit World, chasing shadows. Pursuing another fruitless endeavor and failing at both."

The Fire Princess marched back towards her Brother accusingly. "You don't have the right qualities to be a Fire Lord. You lack the decisiveness to make sound decisions. The commanding authority to compel others to do your bidding. The killer instinct to crush those who stand in your way."

Azula was directly in front of her Brother's face now. "You'll fail here too. It's simply a matter of time. I only wonder how spectacularly you'll ruin everything this go around."

Zuko struggled to deny it, but his Sister's words held a hint of truth to them. Doubts that he had thought he had shoved down long ago were quickly rushing back to the surface. Zuko willed himself to recall his old mantra. "Azula always lies." But he wasn't completely convinced that she was lying to him now. The misgivings were already creeping in.

From behind Azula, another figure emerged. "What makes you think that you could possibly rule the Fire Nation, boy? You're not strong enough. You're not smart enough. You're not ruthless enough." The looming shadow towered over the young Fire Prince as Zuko looked upward at his Father. "You're simply... not enough," critiqued Ozai harshly.

Zuko glared at the new arrival. "Don't you start with me. You made the Fire Nation the shipwreck it is today. I won't rule it the same way you did."

"You mean you'll try to use kindness and compassion instead of the fear and iron-fist that I did?" guffawed Ozai. It was an odd sight. Zuko had never know his Father to laugh before.

Ozai sneered at his Son. "You'll fail. Kindness cannot rule a nation. You fight for a world that will never exist, never! You'll be taken advantage of by every lowlife that enters your court. The Fire Nation will fall apart from infighting because you can't command the respect and loyalty of those who don't fear your wrath." Then, Ozai grinned. "But you know that, don't you?"

Zuko paused, the retort he was about to fire back at his Father caught in his throat.

The presence of the Fire Lord grew more imposing. "I know about how you ended the fighting between my forces and the ragtag group you brought into my nation. You used fear. You made my forces submit to your might. There was no kindness there. Only the threat of your wrath if they disobeyed you," assessed Ozai critically, almost approvingly, with a slight nod. "That is how a true Fire Lord should act. Your Sister knew that. And instinctively, it seems that you did too. Kindness? Compassion? Ha! You're more like me than you care to admit."

The Fire Prince tried to defend his actions. "I only did that because..."

"Because you knew it would work! Because it was the simple solution, the best solution! Would my soldiers put down their weapons if you asked nicely? No! Power only responds to power!" gloated Ozai.

Wavering more, Zuko was unsure of how to respond. "No, I'm not like you. I can't become like you. I need to be better. To do better."

"Poor Zuzu, ever the weak, feeble child," teased Azula from her Father's side. "What a worthless waste of space. Father's giving you a compliment. Can't you see that? Isn't that everything your pathetic, crybaby self ever wanted? Or do want a hug from us too?"

Zuko held his head as he attempted to focus. He wasn't nearly as confident that these phantoms in front of him were fake anymore. They sounded and acted just like his real Sister and Father. And was he truly becoming like his Father already? Not even officially coronated as the Fire Lord and yet here he was instilling fear and trepidation in the Fire Nation forces.

Somewhere from above, echoing throughout the mists, Zuko heard the voice of the Great Cat Spirit singing a rhyme. "Somehow you strayed and lost your way, and now there'll be no time to play, no time for joy, no time for friends-not even time to make amends."

"Enough!" shouted Zuko furiously. "I'm nothing like you, either of you!"

"Lashing out when things get troublesome? Knowing that you're right when everyone else is wrong? Demanding something the world refuses to just let you have? I'd say, you're... exactly... like... us..." jeered Azula as she lorded over her Brother.

"No... I'm not..." The words sounded weak and hollow, even to him, as Zuko shrank back a single step. Was he doomed to just repeat the same mistakes of his family over and over?

The polar bear pup in his arms shifted while remaining fast asleep. But it was enough to focus Zuko from the self-panic that had been setting in. Shaking his head, the firebender attempted to get ahold of himself. However, as Zuko glanced back up, the shadows of his Father and Sister had disappeared. Only the sounds of their scornful laugher remained, hanging on the shimmering mists.

---

Aang sat next to Avatar Roku as the two of them waited on the edge of the cliffside overlooking the Fog of Lost Souls. It had been an awkward gathering. Or at least for Aang it had been. The young airbender couldn't seem to figure out how to read Roku's stony expression as the elder Avatar stared unblinking into the miasma.

Fidgeting, Aang eventually spat out, "I'm sorry for not being the one to defeat the Fire Lord. When everyone was counting on me to save the world, I froze up and failed."

If Roku had heard Aang, he didn't seem to make any effort to acknowledge his younger self. The ancient Avatar simply continued his silent vigil.

Rambling, Aang kept going. "Whenever the situation becomes too much, I just run away. I ran away a hundred years ago when I learned I was being separated from Gyatso to be trained as the Avatar. I ran away when I was freed from the iceberg and refused to accept my destiny as the Avatar. I ran away when my friends tried to train me in the elements to be ready to face the Fire Lord."

Aang gave a disdainful laugh to himself. "I even ran away now to the Spirit World. Sokka told me everything that happened after my imprisonment. He asked me to come here to help Zuko. Everyone was counting on me to do something to help. But, I didn't come here to help Zuko. I ran away here because it was easier than having to face my friends and admit to them the mistakes that I've made."

"And yet you're admitting it now?" implored Roku without moving his forward gaze, keeping his eyes focused on the valley below.

Aang sighed. "It's kind of like I'm talking to myself, or a past version of myself at least, when I'm admitting it to you."

Picking up a pebble, Aang spun the little rock around in his fingers for a moment before lightly tossing the stone into the fog. "What Zuko did back in the Fire Capital... He could have ran away. He could have hidden during the battle somewhere until it was safe. But he didn't. He led from the front. He inspired others to fight against impossible odds. And not just his people, but people from all of the nations. He risked everything to unite a band of people who used to despise one another."

Aang's head lowered. "And he's risking everything he gained from that fight now on a fleeting hope that he can rescue Katara."

Roku exhaled a deep breath. "The Avatar is the champion of balance and harmony in the world. This has been true ever since the Golden Age of the Lion Turtles." The elderly Avatar glanced upward towards the sun in the Spirit World sky above. "And yet, the greatest Avatars never stand alone in this endeavor. History is full of others who have stepped up to ensure balance and harmony is maintained. This doesn't mean that the Avatar of that age is a failure or an incompetent. It merely means that others only wished to do their part. To share in the burden."

Moving from his seated position to lying on his back, Aang also stared upwards. "How come everything always works out for Zuko and everything goes wrong for me? It's like every step he takes is the right step."

Avatar Roku couldn't help himself as he attempted to hold back a snort of laughter at what his younger reincarnation had just said. Regathering his regal composure, Roku assured the airbender, "It's not. It may seem that way from the outside, but I promise you, Zuko has had more than his fair share of stumbles and frustrations. He has plenty of regrets as well."

Still feeling down, Aang uttered, "Not compared to me, he hasn't."

There was a pause before Roku nodded in agreement. "No, perhaps not compared to you." Then, even lower under his breath, Roku added, "Perhaps not compared to me either."

It hurt, knowing that even his past incarnation agreed with him on that point. Although, Aang wasn't sure what Roku regretted in his own past. Several minutes elapsed before Aang spoke again. "I always wanted to do the right thing. Be the right kind of person. But I never knew what that meant."

Raising his arm, Aang reached out towards the sky with his empty palm, as if attempting to grasp something just out of reach. "It always seemed like... like there was an impossible choice I had to make. Avatar or Airbender."

Roku's tone grew stern. "Every Avatar who has come before you has had to face this dilemma. And every Avatar who comes after you will have to do the same."

"I know," replied Aang meekly.

"And yet you keep acting like you're the only one in the world who has to balance multiple roles and responsibilities," scolded Roku.

"I do," admitted Aang dispassionately.

Sighing, Roku relented. "The world always demands much of the Avatar. It takes more than it gives. And it always forces the Avatar to grow up far too quickly." He glanced over at Aang. "Never forget that your past selves are a part of you, just like you are a part of them. You are never alone. Learn from their struggles and allow their lessons to help guide your decisions."

Turning his head back towards the Fog of Lost Souls, Roku finished with, "You don't need to choose. You're the Avatar and you're an Airbender."

Lying there, on his back as he watched the passing clouds above, Aang gradually reflected on Roku's words.

---

Hours? Or was it days? Zuko couldn't be sure just how long he had been trudging along through the hazy mists. Maybe weeks?

Every so often, Azula would appear and whisper doubts into his ear. Mock him for his failures and shortfalls. It didn't matter what he argued back, Azula always had a superior retort ready to throw in his face.

Other times, it was Ozai. Lording over him with that condescending attitude that his Father exuded so easily. Drilling insult after insult and sneering with contempt.

It was always a battle of wits, never of punches and firebending. Zuko couldn't figure out why that was. Azula and Ozai weren't the kind to shy away from violence. A never-ending series of clashes would undoubtedly tire him out and leave him easy prey.

The Fire Prince paused as he walked. When was the last time he ate? When was the last time he even recalled being hungry? Even now, he wasn't hungry or thirsty. Did that mean that he had only been in this fog for a short time? Or people not need to eat or drink in the Spirit World? And come to think of it, Zuko didn't recall the need to sleep anymore either.

His Mother never reappeared in front of him. Not since that first time where that doppelganger pretended to be her and blamed him for things Zuko knew in his heart that his real Mother never would curse him for. The real Ursa was somewhere else. She had to be.

No, there was simply nothing in this empty void but an unceasing path and the haunting beratement from his deceased Father and Sister. The other wanderers that he had seen when he had first entered felt like a far-off memory now.

Zuko found himself needing to constantly focus his mind on his purpose. On his goal. It was so easy for that nagging self-doubt to creep into his thoughts. And yet, each motivational pep-talk Zuko gave himself felt more difficult, more hollow, each time.

There was an invisible negativity hanging in the air, weighing on each step. A contest of wills. And despite his ability to take a beating and keep moving forward, this was one trial that Zuko wasn't sure he could best.

The polar bear pup in his arms continued to rest quietly, unmoving. The rising and falling of the tiny animal's chest was Zuko's only indication that the pup was still breathing. No matter what Zuko attempted, he had been unsuccessful at stirring the creature back awake. 'Well at least one of us is able to sleep,' joked Zuko mirthlessly to himself as he continued through the fog.

Stumbling on some loose stones along the rocky trail, Zuko managed to catch himself with some quick shuffling steps. One of the last things he wanted to do was trip and fall over with the polar bear pup in his arms.

"How hypocritical of you, treating that worthless creature with more concern than you gave your soldiers," disparaged Ozai as he stood nearby contemptuously.

"I really don't want to hear that from you," scoffed Zuko as he walked right past his Father's shadow. "You treated all of your soldiers as expendable. You threw away everyone that wasn't you. Including me and Azula."

"And did you do any different?" retorted Ozai. "You left your soldiers behind to fight and die in your name, for your glory! You chased after me instead of staying with them. Both at the tunnel bunker and again at the open airship field."

"That's because I trusted my soldiers!" defended the Fire Prince heatedly. "It's not the same thing. I don't abandon my men like you do to save myself."

"I wonder if those soldiers who died fighting for you felt the same?" taunted Ozai with a cruel smirk. "Lying there, cold and bleeding out, cursing your name for forsaking them, forcing them to fight impossible odds while you pursued a different target."

Not replying to his Father while he continued to walk, Zuko attempted to shut out the outlandish accusations. Zuko knew that his Father was trying to twist his decisions and actions, make the results something that they weren't. And yet, the Fire Prince couldn't help but feel disillusioned all the same.

Ozai reappeared further up the thick hazy trail. "Although, your greatest shame remains your betrayal to this grand nation. You welcomed savages and brutes into our lands. Opened the gates for them to take their so-called retribution. And now that we are at our weakest, those savages won't be satisfied with only this victory. They had a taste of triumph, of conquest! Our enemies will place their heel on our throats, and they won't let up until we are nothing more than groveling beasts submissive to our new masters."

Shaking his head, Zuko refuted. "Those are your fears, Father. My friends would never do that."

"Ha!" jeered Ozai. "You place too much faith in these fake friends of yours. They do not speak for their nations. When the leaders of the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom come demanding concessions, your friends will be powerless to do anything."

The Fire Lord loomed over his Son as Zuko walked by the stationary Ozai a second time. The sneer of disapproval was readily apparent on the Fire Lord's body language.

When Zuko didn't say anything, Ozai merely persisted, "You took the Fire Nation by force. And force is how you will remain in power. Reject my lessons at your peril and the peril of all the souls in the Fire Nation. The wolf hounds are coming. They have already caught the scent of a weak-willed prince, ill-fit to lead and overly eager to appease."

The Fire Lord moved to match the Fire Prince's pace as he fell into step next to his Son. "I do not wish to see my Fire Nation cut apart and shattered by foreigners, by those who should, by all rights, be beneath us. Your kindness will destroy the Fire Nation, boy. Leave it vulnerable for the vultures who will seize every opportunity to take what is rightfully ours."

"I won't let that happen," asserted Zuko as he glared sideways over at his Father. "I will bring a greater prosperity to the Fire Nation and the rest of the world."

"And how will you do that? With hugs and nursey rhymes?" mocked Ozai ruefully. "Only strength will win the day. You must project power! Power enough to make your enemies know that crossing you will only end in their own devastation."

"Overt use of power is what caused the world to end up in the state it's in right now," objected Zuko. "That's not the kind of Fire Nation I envision."

"Whether you envision it or not is irrelevant," retorted Ozai angrily. Then, the Fire Lord calmed as he instead noted, "Though, it matters little in the end. You will understand soon enough. You are the type who needs to lose first, before you realize that power could have prevented your suffering."

Walking ahead of Zuko, Ozai stopped and turned as he added condescendingly, "Power could have saved that water savage of yours."

Halting mid-step, Zuko glared up at his Father furiously. "What did you say?!"

"If you had just been a little stronger. If you had just had a couple more soldiers. If you hadn't been so reluctant to overrun the Fire Capital because of the civilians there. Then, perhaps the Water Tribe girl wouldn't have perished so pitifully," reasoned Ozai harshly. "If only you had more power to crush your enemies, without having to endanger those close to you."

"Enough!" demanded Zuko, flames flickering in the hand not holding onto the polar bear dog in his other arm.

"Why? Because I'm giving voice to the thoughts you have undoubtedly already considered?" jeered the Fire Lord. "We both know that you have thought about it. If only you had the power..."

Ozai smirked at his Son as Zuko grimaced and shifted his head to the side, likely feeling ashamed at the perceived similarities. Finding the chink in Zuko's armor, Ozai didn't let up. "You're pursuing it right now! Power beyond your means. Power to restore the water savage. How is that so different from my pursuit of power to rule the world? You condemn my actions and yet, you seek the same! We are not so different, you and I. We both take what we want from the world. We fight to mold the world to our liking."

"That's not... that's not what I'm doing..." protested Zuko half-heartedly. "You're wrong."

"You're the next Fire Lord. Whatever you state is truth and all others are wrong," mocked Ozai with a smirk. "It feels good, doesn't it? The power to be right. The power to make your will, absolute. The power to command. Why shouldn't you have what you want? Everything is yours for the taking. So take it."

Zuko shut his eyes as he continued to walk forward down the path before him. He tried to shut out the words of his Father echoing around him, taunting him. "He's wrong. I just want to save Katara," muttered the Fire Prince lowly.

And although Ozai's shadow had faded away as Zuko reopened his eyes a minute later, the influence of the former Fire Lord's words remained in Zuko's mind. The misgiving that he was in fact beginning down a similar road of demanding his due from the world.

Zuko remembered the history that Roku had shown him once before. How his ancestor Sozin had once strove to expand the prosperity of the Fire Nation to the rest of the world. That prosperity may have had strings attached of requiring the world to bow to Sozin, but there had been an initial good intention to start.

'Am I walking along the same slippery slope?' pondered Zuko fearfully as he felt a weight increase on his shoulders, the fogs drawing closer around him, the air getting harder to breath. Given his family's track record, bad choices ran in the blood.

It was with these negative thoughts rattling around in his mind that the Fire Prince resumed his trudging through the misty haze.

Another mile later, the Fire Prince barely managed to catch himself when there was suddenly no more ground directly in front of him. Hopping back a short ways, Zuko looked forward as the mists cleared just enough to reveal a vast chasm along the path he was on that seemed to stretch forever in either sideways direction.

On the opposite end of the gorge, the fog remained light enough to show a small cliff edge and the continuation of the walking trail. "I'm supposed to jump across this?" muttered Zuko to himself in disbelief. The distance had to easily be the length of a Fire Nation battleship.

He had come too far to turn around and try a different direction now. Taking a couple of steps back to gain momentum, Zuko tested his firebending with a spark in his palm. When he had first entered the Spirit World, his bending hadn't been working. It had been one of the first things he had tried.

But here in this foggy prison, his firebending seemed to come and go depending on his state of mind. There had been more than one occasion when Zuko had chased away an image of a jeering Azula or a vindictive Ozai with a wave of his firebending.

A kindling flame of fire sprang to life in his hand as Zuko closed his fist around the warm, comforting spark. He only hoped that his inner fire would hold out long enough.

Glancing down at the slumbering polar bear dog in his other arm, Zuko stated, "Hang on, girl. We're making it across." With a determined nod, the Fire Prince sprinted forward and leapt across the chasm with all his strength.

At the apex of his jump, the firebender locked his feet together as he ignited a burst of concentrated firebending at the base of his heels to give himself the extra push to fly the gigantic gap.

Somewhere around the midway point over the gorge, Toph appeared at Zuko's right side in a similar position of flight. Like the strict earthbending instructor she was, Toph ordered, "Don't shift your legs. Keep your head straight, back straight, eyes focused on your landing point."

As engaged as he was with his firebending and making sure that he made it across the fissure, Zuko didn't even bother questioning just how Toph was flying alongside him.

As he neared the small, visible cliff edge on the opposite side of the abyss, the Fire Prince spied Jin standing there, cheering him on. "Oh, come on, Zuko. You've got it! You've got it!"

Angling his body so that his feet touched down first, Zuko attempted to maintain a running stride to slow his speed. However, he couldn't get his feet to run fast enough and with a couple of lunging steps, the firebender tumbled forward, tucking his body in a sideways roll to shield the polar bear pup still protected in his arms.

Coming to an undignified stop, lying on his back, staring upwards, Zuko opened his eyes to see Sokka standing over him with a cocky grin on his face. As the Water Tribe boy laughed in amusement, he commented, "Very smooth, hotshot."

Resting the back of his head against the cold earthen ground, Zuko simply let out a relieved sigh that he had made it across the vast chasm. "Ugh. It's harder than it looks."

"On your feet, Sparky," commanded Toph as she stood alongside Sokka with her arms crossed. "You ain't done yet, are ya?"

Groaning, Zuko slowly managed to climb back to a standing position. Tiredly, he complied with, "Okay, okay." The firebender glanced over at the trail through the foggy environment as it persisted onward, the end nowhere in sight. "This is getting old. I'm not getting anywhere."

"I know you can find your way back to all of us. And you'll do with Katara in tow," encouraged Jin as she stood on Sokka's other side, opposite of Toph. "You're our leader. And you've never let us down when it mattered. We believe in you Zuko."

Sokka stepped forward as he ruffled Zuko's hair and threw his arm around the Fire Prince's shoulder. "Well, I don't know if I'd say you're our leader, but there's no one I trust more to save Katara than you. You've got us in your corner. Don't forget that."

Setting his eyes forward down the endless path, Zuko nodded in agreement. "I know. Thanks guys. I needed to hear that." As the Fire Prince walked, the images of his friends dissipated back into the mists.

Not even half a mile later, as Zuko was passing by a large boulder that emerged from the heavy ashen smoke around him, the firebender noticed Azula sitting on the top of the rock. The Fire Princess grinned as she watched her Brother walk around the obstacle.

"Feeling all better after hearing your cheer squad give you a bunch of empty motivational speeches?" goaded Azula as she swung her leg back and forth from her seated position.

"As a matter of fact, yes, yes I am," replied Zuko with pride.

Rolling her eyes, Azula hopped down from the boulder as she started to walk alongside her Brother, who for his part, attempted to simply ignore the unwanted walking buddy.

"They'll betray you in the end," whispered Azula into Zuko's ear. "They only pretended to be your friends in order to have you help them overthrow Father. Now that the Fire Nation is at its weakest, they'll start to show their true colors."

Azula jumped back with a laugh as Zuko went to push her aside. "Oh, they won't be too obvious about it. For peasants, they seem to be oddly intelligent. But you can see the signs, if you know what to look for. A harmless suggestion here. A helpful nudge there. And before you know it, your so-called friends will limit your power in the Fire Nation bit by little bit. Until you are nothing more than a puppet whose strings are held by the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom."

"Jin, Sokka, and Toph would never do that," asserted Zuko as he continued his march, holding the polar bear pup in his arms closer to him.

Azula followed a short distance behind as she spoke up again. "You want to believe that there's a relationship that's beyond betrayal, a relationship that's beyond that kind of hurt. Well, I have news for you, poor Zuzu." Azula appeared directly in front of her Brother. "There isn't."

"Go away Azula," demanded Zuko as he walked past his Sister.

"Group dynamics change when you lose a member," commented Azula, smirking when her Brother paused and wheeled around. "Do you really think your friends will still be your friends when you fail to save that sorry waterbender?"

Zuko stomped right up into his Sister's face, anger in his eyes. "Her name is Katara. And my friends will be by my side whether I find her here or not."

The smirk on Azula's face widened gleefully. "So you admit that there's a chance that you're going to fail. That you're not going to be able to save your precious little water peasant."

Growling, Zuko hissed out, "You're twisting my words."

Shaking her head, Azula lorded over her Brother. "I'm merely pointing out something you already know. You don't want to think about it, but the thought is already there, isn't it? I can see it growing, right there on the edge of your mind. You can't help yourself. You know deep down that this quest of yours is pointless. It can only end in failure."

Regretful that he bothered to respond to Azula in a contest of words, Zuko turned to resume his pace down the foggy path.

Behind the Fire Prince, Azula called out one more time. "Funny thing about betrayal, Zuzu! It never comes from your enemies. It only comes from those you think you can trust."

The next stretch of empty road dragged on for Zuko. The encouragement from his friends had been tarnished by Azula's harsh ridicule. The problem with not encountering anything within the foggy valley was the fact that it left the Fire Prince with nothing to do, nothing but to dwell on the negativity that Azula and Ozai constantly battered him with.

Zuko knew that he couldn't give in and allow himself to linger on the lies that Azula easily spewed. No good could come from that.

And yet, as time passed, it grew harder and harder to not think about the falsehoods that his Sister wove. This place. These doubts. They worn on him.

What if there was no point to any of this? What if he had cursed himself to travel this purgatory for the rest of existence? What if he couldn't rescue Katara?

Somewhere, faintly, Zuko recalled telling Jin once to never start playing a 'what if?' game. But despite that, Zuko found himself unable to listen to his own advice.

What if everything changed now that the war was over? What if his friends went their separate ways? All because Katara wasn't there to keep the group together? Because Zuko very much doubted that he was the glue that had held the team together through all of the challenges that they had faced.

In front of the Fire Prince, the fog parted to once again reveal another looming chasm. Except this one was twice as wide as the one that Zuko had previous leapt over. Far in the distance, almost seeming to move further away with each passing moment, was a tiny patch of ground that revealed the next part of the path Zuko had found himself traversing.

With a gloomy sigh, the Fire Prince snapped his fingers together to test his firebending. Only his inner flame seemed to take longer to answer his call this time. The pilot flame flickered and faded in and out.

Uncertain in the reliability of his firebending, Zuko glanced back at the extra distance he had to leap over this time. "It's a long way to jump..."

"Come on! Overcoming challenges is totally your thing!" rallied Lu Ten vigorously from Zuko's side. "You can do this with your eyes closed!" Then, sheepishly Lu Ten laughed, "But maybe don't close your eyes for real, because you might miss and fall forever through a terrifying abyss." Lu Ten then shook involuntarily as he added, "Ugh."

Zuko shook his head once before glancing over at his Cousin. "I might miss anyway. It's a long way to jump."

"Don't think that way, Cousin!" boomed Lu Ten encouragingly as he placed an inspiring hand on Zuko's shoulder. "We'll make it! We'll make it together."

Clutching the polar bear pup in his arms a little closer, Zuko sighed again. "But what's the point? Just look at where we are. Is there even a way out of here?"

The jovial expression on Lu Ten's face shifted into a disapproving frown. "Okay, sure. This certainly isn't the greatest of places. Ghosts, phantoms, wraiths, spirits, whatever. But I don't think we're in paradise or the underworld. We're in some kind of purgatory."

Jabbing his Cousin's shoulder with a brotherly punch, Lu Ten prompted, "So we have to keep moving! Climb the mountain, leap the chasm, punch the bad guy, pass the test, and prove ourselves worthy! Only way to reach our end goal."

Hearing the rousing motivation from his favorite Cousin was almost enough to galvanize Zuko. And yet, as the Fire Prince looked across the expansive gorge once more, Zuko couldn't help but repeat, "It's a long way to jump."

Undaunted, Lu Ten leveled his gaze across the same wide open distance. "Always is."

Placing his arm over Zuko's shoulder and drawing him close so that the two Cousins were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, Lu Ten added, "And when it matters, it always will be." With his other arm, Lu Ten pointed across the chasm. "But we can do it! We just need a running start."

With a confident nod, Zuko allowed himself to share in his Cousin's enthusiasm. And as the Fire Prince surged over the looming valley, firebending rocketing from his feet, the jump didn't seem as far as it had originally been.

Landing steadily, Zuko turned to thank his Cousin. However, Lu Ten was nowhere in sight. The Fire Prince scanned in every direction around himself, but there was no sign of his Cousin anywhere.

And with Lu Ten's disappearance, the upbeat positiveness that Zuko had fleetingly felt went with him. With a sigh, the Fire Prince forced himself to keep moving, one tired step at a time. His pace had certainly slowed from when he had first entered the hazy mists. A time that felt so long ago.

Onward and onward, Zuko shuffled. It had been quite a while since another voice echoed in his head, friendly or otherwise. And the deafening quiet smothered his optimistic thoughts as the more negative memories persisted instead.

Coming to an overturned log, the Fire Prince halted his march. Deciding to finally take a small break, Zuko sat down next to the log, his back against the wood, as the firebender rested his head with a fatigued sigh.

The firebender couldn't have closed his eyes for more than a minute before a familiar voice rang out from in front of him, "A moment of quiet is good for your mental well-being. How nice of you to remember my lessons!"

Zuko's eyes snapped open as he witnessed his Uncle standing in front of him with the widest grin on his portly face. "U-Uncle?"

Iroh rubbed his chin sagely as he spoke again. "Although, you really should keep going. This isn't the most welcoming of places to linger in."

Turning his head slightly, Zuko muttered, "Easy for you to say. You haven't been walking for ages in this endless abyss." Letting out a sigh, Zuko added, "Besides, what's the use? No matter how far I go, I don't seem to be making any actual progress. This trail I'm on doesn't lead anywhere, does it?"

Looking back at his Uncle, Zuko answered his own question before Iroh could say anything. "I already know what you're going to say Uncle, never give up. There are people who love and need me. I just need to believe in myself the way they do. Failure is merely the opportunity to begin again; only this time, more wisely."

Tilting his head downward, Zuko mumbled, "But this is becoming hopeless..." Finishing, the Fire Prince's eyes flickered back upwards momentarily as he spied on his Uncle's reaction.

Iroh simply smiled in response to his Nephew's harsh self-critique.

Raising his head as he shifted his gaze back to Iroh, Zuko groaned, "Come on, Uncle. You don't play fair."

Laughing heartedly, Iroh replied, "I'm all about fair-play, Nephew. Walk with me for a time. I'll take the first step." Iroh reached out his hand to help Zuko back to his feet.

A slight grin formed on the side of Zuko's mouth as he went to accept his Uncle's help up. Only there was a sickly sound of steel cutting through flesh and Zuko felt something warm and iron-tasting land on the side of his face.

Iroh's voice caught in his throat as the old firebender stood there, a metal sickle embedded through his chest, Ozai standing close behind his older Brother. Lowering his head until he was talking directly into Iroh's ear, Ozai whispered, "Like Son, Like Father. Both ended the same way."

Whatever final retort Iroh attempted to say died on the old General's lips as Iroh crumbled to the ground. He lay there, face down, unmoving, blood pooling at his side.

"No!" exclaimed Zuko as he sprang to his feet with a wave of firebending arcing outward to cause his Father to backpedal a short distance away. Kneeling at Iroh's side, Zuko checked on his Uncle's condition, but Iroh was clearly beyond help.

Anger flared in Zuko's eyes as he growled in fury. However, before the Fire Prince could retaliate, Lu Ten rushed past, locking weapons with Ozai. But Ozai wasn't willing to play around.

Breaking the stand-off, the Fire Lord joined together his sickles into his dual-bladed polearm, twisting and weaving with a singular motion, and catching Lu Ten flatly in the stomach. Lu Ten coughed out blood in response before Ozai kicked the young man away. Lu Ten didn't get back up.

Rising to his feet, Zuko prepared to face his Father once more. However, when Ozai turned to face his Son, it wasn't Ozai. Zuko came face-to-face with himself wearing his Father's Fire Lord robes.

His fighting spirit evaporated as Zuko muttered, horrified, "N-no. That's can't be... I wouldn't..."

"And why not?" taunted Azula as she stood over the slain Lu Ten. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Zuko didn't have a response for his Sister. He was still staring at the older version of himself in the Fire Lord robes.

Water surged from behind Zuko as the geyser collided with Azula and pushed the Fire Princess away. A hand grabbed Zuko's wrist as Katara called out urgently, "Let's get out of here!"

The thing Zuko knew, he was running through the fog once more. His left arm was being pulled along by the very same Water Tribe girl he had come here to save. It felt like a dream.

They couldn't have sprinted much more than a short distance, but it didn't appear as though Azula or Ozai had given chase. Gradually, Katara reduced their speed as she checked backwards to state, "I think we lost them."

"K-Katara?" asked Zuko as he reached out slowly. "Are you real?"

Katara took Zuko's hand in hers and guided his palm gently against the side of her face. "Do I feel real?"

The Water Tribe girl's cheek certainly felt warm to Zuko's touch. The Fire Prince pulled the waterbender fiercely into a tight embrace. "I thought I had lost you forever."

"I'm right here, Zuko," smiled Katara as she returned the hug. After a couple moments, the waterbender pulled away as she took a few steps forward. "Let's get out of this terrible place. The way out is over this way."

Zuko looked past the waterbender to see nothing more than endless fog. "Are you sure? That way looks the same as all the other directions."

Katara returned a confident smirk. "And who's been here longer? You or me? Trust me Zuko. I can get us out of here."

Nodding, Zuko answered with a smile of his own. "I'll always trust you, Katara."

As the Fire Prince prepared to take a step forward, the polar bear pup in his arms finally stirred and raised her head, the puppy's eyes opening slowly. As the polar bear pup took notice of the waterbender standing before Zuko, the pup growled lowly, fur raised on-end.

Frowning, Katara warned, "Careful Zuko. That creature's dangerous. You need to get rid of it right away before it hurts you."

Zuko eyes shifted between the snarling pup in his arms to the smiling Water Tribe girl and back again several times. Something was off here.

"Zuko, you need to listen to me," implored Katara, her honeyed tone mesmerizing to the ear. "Put the polar bear pup down and come to me. The exit's not far from here."

Automatically, without thinking too hard, Zuko started to comply with the waterbender's plea. A scratch from the polar bear pup's small paw brushed against Zuko's arm and gave the firebender pause.

The confusion in Zuko's head started to clear as his eyes refocused. "This... this isn't right," he stated softly.

"Zuko! Drop the animal!" shouted Katara compellingly. "I told you it's dangerous!"

Zuko glanced down at the polar bear pup in his arms before standing taller. Maybe it was because he had traveled so far together with the polar bear pup, but it just felt wrong to part ways with the animal. "No, I will not," stated Zuko.

As he said the words, it was like everything started clicking into place, piece by piece. The missing part of the puzzle. Narrowing his eyes, Zuko studied the Water Tribe girl in front of him critically. After a moment he declared accusingly, "You're not Katara." Glaring critically, he demanded, "Who are you?"

"I'm Katara!" defended the waterbender sweetly. "Just follow me! We're so close to going home together!"

"No..." refuted Zuko, his mind rushing a mile a minute to make sense of all of this. "You're just an illusion. I don't know if my tired mind thought you into existence or if it was this place." The Fire Prince leveled his gaze. "But I do know that the real Katara would never tell me to get rid of an animal who needs my help."

"What are you talking about Zuko? It's me. You know me," pleaded Katara a second time.

It wasn't just this fake Katara in front of him. Everything started to come together. The fog was gradually lifting from Zuko's mind. "My fears. This place brings my innermost fears to life. That I had forgotten my Mother, that I failed to save you, that Azula was right, that I am becoming my Father; all of it." Once the Fire Prince began voicing his assessments, the reality became more apparent for him to see.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko sensed the movement to his left before Azula even came into view. Spinning on his heel, Zuko stared down his charging Sister and her lightningbending. "Azula always lies," the Fire Prince declared calmly, seconds before Azula's arm was about to drive its way through his chest.

Instead, the shadow of Azula dissipated back into the grayish smoke that filled the canyon all around them. Zuko watched the phantom disappear before turning to his right to come face-to-face with Ozai.

"I am not a reflection of my Father," stated Zuko resolutely as he stared down the former Fire Lord without blinking.

Ozai simply sneered in return before fading out of existence, just like Azula had. Zuko could feel a slight sense of relief wash over him. It was as if an unseen unburden was lifting from his shoulders.

Returning his attention to the Water Tribe girl, who hadn't moved from her spot, Zuko set his hopeful golden eyes to meet the waterbender's azure-tinted eyes. "I'm not going to stop looking for a way to save you, Katara. I can't forgive myself for not being there when you needed me the most, but I think I understand now why you hid your injuries from me. You did what you thought was right. And now, I'm going to do what I think is right."

At Zuko's proclamation, the heavy fog lifted and the valley cleared of all obstructions. The shadow of Katara vanished along with everything else. And as the mists underneath the ghost of the Water Tribe girl disappeared, in their place was an expansive drop-off. A pit that led straight down into a cluster of sharp stalagmites looming upward, waiting to impale anyone who fell in.

Backing away from the void with a slight shiver, Zuko nearly bumped into another wandering person. Looking around, the Fire Prince realized there were hundred of other people in the valley alongside him, each standing around in a daze, trapped within their own minds.

Attempting to shake the shoulder of the nearest person to him, Zuko was unsuccessful getting through to the wandering soul. The Fire Prince shook several more people only get the same unresponsive result. When he tried to drag someone away, the wanderer pulled away from the Fire Prince's grasp and simply returned to their original comatose state.

Sighing, Zuko quickly understood that there was nothing he could do for these trapped souls. Just as he had come to his own realizations and acceptances, so to did these lost souls need to do the same, if they ever wished to move on.

Glancing through the unobstructed vision of the valley, Zuko finally noticed a path leading back up the cliffside. Looking back one last time, Zuko grimaced at not being able to assist anyone else before he made his way out of the valley.

Reaching the top of the trail, Zuko quickly realized that it was not only the Keeper of Souls Cat Spirit who awaited him up there. A relieved Avatar Roku and a pensive Aang stood nearby. However, it was the Princess Yue, the Painted Lady, and two other unfamiliar spirits who were completely unexpected to the Fire Prince. He addressed those he did know first. "It's you two. Why are you here?" Zuko asked as he approached Princess Yue and the Painted Lady.

"News travels quickly in the Spirit World. Especially when a human is roaming around. Spirits are quite gossipy by nature after all," explained the Painted Lady. Zuko thought he noticed an amused smile hidden behind the thin white veil covering the lady's features.

"I think it's because new and unexpected things rarely happen around here," added Yue. "So when we heard that you willingly walked into the Fog of Lost Souls, we rushed over to help."

"The Fog of Lost Souls?" echoed Zuko as he glanced over at the Great Cat Spirit who was lounging about indifferently within a nearby tree branch. "That... explains quite a lot actually."

A docile panda bear yawned as it sat down at the Painted Lady's side. "I had thought to ask Hei Bai to serve as your Spirit Guide through the fog, but it seems that role had already been taken," commented the Painted Lady as she petted the panda bear's head gently.

Hei Bai gave a light barking sound that appeared to be akin to laughter. Then, the spirit creature looked at Zuko and tilted its head with interest.

Following Hei Bai's line of sight, Zuko realized that Hei Bai wasn't looking at him so much as the panda bear was actually studying the polar bear pup in Zuko's arms. A polar bear pup who had fallen back asleep at some point during all the excitement.

"I would have been lost if not for this brave little pup," acknowledged Zuko. "She helped me to see past my fears and regrets."

Both the Painted Lady and Princess Yue appeared to be amused at Zuko's statement, despite the Fire Prince's confusion at their enigmatic smiles.

The fourth Spirit at Princess Yue's side spoke next. "The Water Tribes always did have great resiliency and adaptability. No wonder you did not wander into nothingness. You had an excellent guide."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" asked Zuko as he observed the regal looking spirit before him. The spirit held an elegant demeanor without even trying.

Princess Yue introduced, "Prince Zuko, you stand before the Moon Spirit, Tui."

His eyes widening with realization at how important the spirit in front of him was, Zuko bowed respectfully. "I apologize for my bluntness, great Moon Spirit."

If Tui had been offended by the casualness of the Fire Prince's initial question of her, she didn't show it. Instead, the Moon Spirit gave a coy smile as she commented, "There is nothing to forgive. I simply wanted to see the human who had so many spirits supporting him. Especially since one of those spirits is my adoptive Daughter, Yue."

Zuko didn't know what to say in response to Tui, opting to instead bow a second time.

After acknowledging the Fire Prince, Tui turned towards the grinning Cat Spirit watching all of this occur from its perch up on a nearby tree. "If you are quite done avoiding the subject, I believe you still have a part to play, do you not, Keeper of Souls?"

As all eyes shifted towards the mischievous Cat Spirit, the Keeper of Souls tilted its head and commented, "Oh, I rarely get involved in politics myself. Much too messy for my tastes. And there is far too little tea for the trouble."

Placing a hand out to calm the Fire Prince before he said something rash, Tui instead commented diplomatically, "This wanderer has found something of great importance. Surely, the fair Keeper of Souls will keep their word?"

The smile on the roguish Cat Spirit lessened a bit, but still remained for all to see. Absently, the Cat Spirit noted, "Not all who wander are lost." Then, focusing its gaze on the Fire Prince, the Keeper of Souls purred, "You did indeed find your way, even if you received some help on the journey."

"We had a deal," asserted Zuko. "I passed your test. I request that you tell me how to find Katara's soul."

"So we did, so we did," replied the Great Cat Spirit flippantly. "And no scheme of ours can raise any sort of smile." The cat's tail swayed faster and faster. "And yet, I cannot give you what you already have. Goodbye, sweet prince. Until we meet again." In a puff of smoke, the Great Cat Spirit disappeared in the same matter as the mists from the Fog of Lost Souls below.

"Hey! Wait!" protested Zuko as he took a step towards the now-empty tree, only to stop as the polar bear pup in his arms began to pulse and glow a brilliant light blue.

Then, without warning, the polar bear pup shone a blinding white as Zuko shut his eyes from the intense glow. Daring to open one eye and then the other, the Fire Prince gradually realized that he now carried a slumbering azure soul. "K-Katara?" whispered Zuko softly. The orb-shaped soulfire glowed warmly in response.

"You actually found her spirit," muttered Roku, the awe in the ancient Avatar's tone completely unhidden. "I can't believe you actually made it this far."

Holding Katara's soul protectively close to himself, Zuko's eyes shone with renewed purpose. "But I'm not done yet," announced the Fire Prince. He turned to the Painted Lady, Hei Bai, Yue, and Tui. "You all helped me again. I don't know how I can ever repay the favor, but I promise that someday, I will. All you have to do is ask."

"Just bring her back," stated Yue as she stepped forward and took Zuko's hand in her own.

"That will be enough," added the Painted Lady as she seconded Yue's plea. Hei Bei simply gave a quick bark in agreement as Tui nodded in unison.

"Is... is Katara okay?" asked Aang hesitantly as he walked up next to Zuko.

"She will be soon. Very soon," answered the Fire Prince as Roku opened up a doorway leading back to the Great Library.

As Roku, Aang, and Zuko emerged from the corridor, Wan Shi Tong barely glanced up from the book he was currently reading. "Oh, you've returned," the Grand Owl Spirit observed with no small amount of unconcealed disappointment in his voice.

"No thanks to you or that Keeper of Souls you sent me to find," retorted Zuko. "But I will be returning to the Physical World now that I have what I need to bring back Katara."

Closing his book with one of his talons, there was a gleam to Wan Shi Tong's eye that did not go unnoticed by Roku. With a wily smirk, the Owl Spirit gloated, "I look forward to witnessing the results of your endeavor, brave prince."

---

Jin fretted worriedly around Zuko's meditative form. It had been several hours since Zuko had entered his trance into the Spirit World. "I hate it when he does this," muttered the Earth Kingdom girl dejectedly. "Things didn't exactly go that great the last time Zuko entered the Spirit World back at Roku's Island."

Sokka nodded as he stood up. "You're right." The Water Tribe boy looked back over at the doors as he recalled the unwelcomed intruder that had appeared last time. "Uh, Dad, are you sure that Jeong Jeong fortified this building with enough guards? We wouldn't want any psycho-firebenders-who-shoot-mindbeams-from-their-heads-that-explode to attack us this time."

Hakoda gave his Son a weird look. "When Jeong Jeong heard that Zuko was meditating in the Fire Temple, he set up an entire platoon around the building. This place is locked down tight. Now, what was that about mind beams that explode?"

The Water Tribe boy took a deep breath as he was about to explain in great detail the team's encounter with Combustion Man when instead Roku's Statue began to glow brightly.

"Umm... I think something's about to happen!" warned Jin as she stood up.

"What? What's happening?" asked Toph as she felt everyone tense up in response to the shining sculpture.

"The statue's glowing!" exclaimed Sokka as he picked up his boomerang.

A dazzling light flooded the room as everyone except for Toph covered their eyes from the blinding illumination. A swirl of owl feathers followed. The little earthbender was the first to recover as she felt the footsteps of two familiar friends. "They're back!" called out Toph.

Zuko was standing there holding a faint blue radiant ghostly orb in his arms. Aang sat near the edge of the large statue, his physical injuries returned full force. The airbender may have been able to walk unimpeded within the Spirit World, but now that he was back, his broken limbs on his real body remained unusable. Behind the two of them, hovering high in the Fire Temple, were the spiritual forms of Avatar Roku and a large Owl Spirit.

"Careful!" urged Sokka as he held his boomerang out defensively. "That's Wan Shi Tong! We had a run-in with him in the desert. He's dangerous and he does not like humans."

"Ah, the dancing monkey is still alive," mused Wan Shi Tong. "You still owe me for stealing knowledge from my library."

"I already gave you information on how to tie a special butterfly knot! I didn't steal anything," defended Sokka.

"Ah, that's right, I forgot that you're not very smart," dismissed the Owl Spirit.

Ignoring the arguing members in the room, Zuko walked over and knelt next to Katara's unmoving body. Jin watched as the Fire Prince carefully placed Katara's spirit over top of her physical body as the ghostly blue orb slowly melded into the waterbender's body. Zuko waited for a couple of moments as nothing else happened.

"Wan Shi Tong, something's wrong. It's not working," stated Zuko as he brushed Katara's hair out of her face.

The Owl Spirit scoffed. "I already gave you all the information you need. It's not my fault if you messed something up. And there were so few steps too. Humans really cannot follow directions, can they?"

Disregarding the Owl Spirit, who clearly would be of no further help, Zuko instead closed his eyes and focused as he recited the same incantation in his head that he had repeated a hundred times since learning it from Wan Shi Tong earlier. "Power of the Sun/Gift me with your Light/Pierce through the Dark/Change the Fates design/Seek what has been Lost/Bring Body and Soul together/Spark the life once taken/Let my Hope ignite/Let hope ignite."

"I sought what was lost and united body and soul," muttered the Fire Prince as he mulled over the problem. "Spark the life once taken..."

Opening his eyes as he looked around, Zuko saw that his friends' faces were full of confusion and uncertainty. They wanted to help, but they didn't know what was going on. And Zuko didn't have the time to explain the situation. The Fire Prince felt rushed, like he didn't have long before Katara's soul returned to the Spirit World.

Shaking his head, Zuko grimaced. 'This can't be it. I've come too far to let it end here. There must be something I'm missing.'

A flicker of light caught the Fire Prince's eye as Zuko glanced over to his right as he absently observed a brazier of fire burning brightly underneath Roku's Statue. The firebender stared at the crackling flames for a moment. There was a flash Zuko's mind. Of a distant memory of his training with the ancient Fire Master. "Firebending is life," Zuko whispered under his breath. But he wasn't about to burn Katara. No, he was still missing something.

Zuko lifted his right hand to his face level. Firebending wasn't the answer. At least, not regular firebending. No, he needed a variant that he had never mastered. And there was no time to find Edel, wherever the thunderbird was at the moment. No, Zuko needed to do this himself. He just needed to perform a type of firebending that he had never successfully managed to perform yet.

Standing up, Zuko warned everyone, "Stand back! I need some space." Not waiting to see if anyone was listening to him, Zuko settled into the very same bending stance he had watched his Sister use all too often. Uncle had been sparse on the exact details of this technique, but the old General had relented on occasion and provided Zuko with a couple of tidbits of knowledge when Zuko had hounded him on the technique during training. It would have to be enough.

"Lightning is the purest expression of firebending. It is fueled by neither rage or emotion. It requires a peace of mind," guided Zuko to himself as he recalled what he had managed to pull from his Uncle's tutorage. Not feeling any emotions may have come easy to Azula, but for Zuko; well, Zuko had always been a bundle of emotions. He wore them on his sleeve, the good and the bad.

Zuko slipped out of his bending stance as he took a meditative stance instead and breathed in and out several times to calm himself. "Peace of mind. Think only about your goal. One focus," concentrated the Fire Prince.

He returned to his version of Azula's regular lightningbending stance. Zuko began to mimic the motions he had seen his Sister perform a million times. "There is energy all around us, yin and yang, positive and negative. I must separate those energies from each other." He shut his eyes as he focused his senses. Zuko didn't know exactly what yin or yang energy felt like, but the firebender prayed that he would know the right feelings when he sensed them.

A couple of minutes passed, but nothing. Wan Shi Tong grew impatient first at the inactivity. "Well you're certainty not lashing out and cursing fate like I've seen so many others do when faced with a similar problem." The large Owl Spirit gave an exaggerated yawn. "But this grows boring. Are you ready to admit your failure yet or not?"

Zuko blocked out the words of the Owl Spirit. No, he felt a flicker of something. He reached out with his hand and pulled. The 'something' bent and snapped back with a flash of light. Zuko felt a tingle as a slight prickling sensation coursed through his body. There. It was just there. He grabbed that 'something' again and pulled. Much harder this time.

A hum surged through the air as electricity blew up in Zuko's face and he was knocked backwards several feet, sliding unceremoniously across the smooth marbled floor of the Fire Temple. "Zuko!" cried out Jin as she started towards her friend only to pause as the Fire Prince held up a hand for her to stay back.

Standing up once more, Zuko had a faint smile on his face. "I almost had it." He started to run through the same motions again as he recalled more of his Uncle's tips. "When the energy comes crashing back together, provide release and guidance. You do not command it. Nothing commands lightning. You can merely guide it along its path."

Lighting crackled around Zuko's body as he continued to move. It lasted for a moment, until it blew up in his face a second time. Coughing through the burning smoke, Zuko persisted. "Again!" he declared. Another explosion. "Again!" A bit further along this time, but a detonation of electricity materialized in the firebender's face all the same. "Again!" The resulting boom occurred sooner than normal this time. Getting up once more, albeit slower, Zuko shouted out, "I'm not done yet! Again!"

Roku and Wan Shi Tong watched as the Fire Prince continued his struggles to get a handle on lightningbending. "As amusing as this is, and it really is pretty funny, he's not going to get it. The boy failed," mocked the Owl Spirit.

"He has yet to admit defeat," replied Roku as he watched his great-Grandson with steadily growing concern. Zuko was getting up slower and slower each time. Every failed attempt at lightningbending was taking a serious toll on the Fire Prince. At the rate he was going, it wouldn't be a stretch to say the boy might very well kill himself trying to succeed.

"Zuko," interrupted Hakoda sternly, his voice cutting through the hall of vast Fire Temple loudly. The Water Chieftain had seen enough. As much as he wanted his Daughter back, he didn't want Zuko to destroy himself to do it. And at the rate the Fire Prince was going, that was exactly what was about to happen. Zuko may have been oblivious to it, but it was harrowing for those watching the Fire Prince blow himself up over and over again in an explosion of lightning. How Zuko was still standing was a mystery to Hakoda. But with the amount of swaying the Fire Prince was doing, this was going be the firebender's last attempt before Zuko's body likely just gave out.

Hakoda closed his eyes as he slightly turned his head with a pained expression. "Stop. Just... stop. You've tried your best, but it's not working. I don't blame you. None of us blame you. What happened to Katara was a tragedy, but you can't keep doing this to yourself. Your nation still needs you. Katara wouldn't want you to run yourself ragged like this. If you die trying to save her, then you would just be throwing away her sacrifice for you."

The Fire Prince paused for a moment after his latest attempt, his breathing was extremely labored. Glancing at the faces of his friends, all Zuko saw was concern for him.

"You gave it your best shot," comforted Sokka, tears in his eyes. "But you can't keep this up."

"You're just about as stubborn as I am, but this is getting hard to endure Sparky," added Toph mournfully.

Aang just glared at Zuko for raising his hopes before turning his face away.

Looking pleadingly at Jin, Zuko at last found someone who shared a look of understanding. "Do what you need to do, until you have no regrets," encouraged the Earth Kingdom girl softly.

Settling himself down, Zuko muttered, "What am I doing wrong?" He breathed in and out meditatively once more as he focused. "I'm still afraid of failing. My fear is causing turmoil," Zuko realized after some introspection. "Azula was always confident in herself. I need to be too. Or at least I need to find something or someone to be confident in."

Breathing once more to center himself, Zuko let go. He let go of his fears, his anxieties, his worries. He focused only on succeeding. Only on seeing Katara's smiling face. Only on hearing the sound of her voice.

The Fire Prince began to run through the movement for lightningbending again. Lightning crackled at his fingertips and hummed as the air around him electrified.

"Wait, is he going to strike Katara with a full blast of lightning?" asked Sokka, concern in his tone.

"Quiet, just watch. Zuko knows what he's doing," hushed Jin as she watched her friend. More lightning swirled around the Fire Prince. "I think."

Zuko reasoned with the growing storm in his head. "I don't need much, just a single spark." He discharged the excess energy back into the air around him as a jolt of electricity danced across his fingertips. Kneeling down next to the prone waterbender, Zuko whispered, "Come back to us. Come back to me." Then, he placed his left hand on her forehead and his right hand on her heart as the lightning crossed over from him and into the Water Tribe girl. His labors complete, Zuko collapsed next to Katara in a slump.

Jin, Sokka, Suki, and Toph came rushing over to Zuko's side as Jin knelt next to the firebender. "He's just unconscious," claimed Jin with relief as she checked on the Fire Prince. Hakoda approached, carrying Aang.

Sokka was quiet for a moment as he checked on his Sister. He looked up in disbelief. "And Katara... She's breathing! I really don't understand how he did it, but Zuko did it! Whatever he did... it worked."

As everyone's attention shifted towards the Water Tribe siblings, Katara began to stir in her Brother's arms. Blinking a couple of times to steady her vision as her family came into view, the waterbender was clearly disoriented as she spoke softly, her voice hoarse, "Sokka? Dad?"

Both her Brother and Dad wrapped her up into a tight family hug. "You're alive! You've come back to us!" choked up Hakoda, his eyes full of tears.

Katara, completely bewildered, returned the family embrace. She had no idea what was going on. Attempting to recall her memories, the Water Tribe girl fumbled through, ""I remember being underground. I was fighting alongside Jin. We were fighting Azula. There was a cave-in..." A phantom pain lingered on Katara's side as she started to remember getting impaled by a falling rock.

The Water Tribe girl attempted to sit up only to collapse, her arms unfamiliar with supporting her weight. Sokka fortunately was right there to catch his Sister. "Easy Katara. You've been through a lot."

The waterbender only half-heard her Brother. Instead, Katara's fingers lingered on where her severe wound had once been. In it's place was fully restored skin and no actual pain. If not for the hole in her bloody clothing, Katara would have sworn that she had never been impaled in the first place. The only word that came to her mind was, "How?"

"I don't know," replied Sokka excitedly as he helped his Sister into a seated position. "It must have been some kind of Spirit Magic. Whatever Zuko did in the Spirit World and whatever he did to save you; it must have healed both your body and your spirit!"

Katara nodded along to Sokka's fast paced explanation. None of what her Brother had just said made any sense to her. But the look of relief both in Sokka's and Hakoda's eyes was enough to make the Water Tribe girl smile in return.

While the Water Tribe family had their reunion, the Fire Prince slowly began to regain consciousness as well. Sitting up as Jin helped him into a seated position, Zuko held his head groggily. "Okay, I don't know what just happened, but I feel like Appa fell on top of me." He glanced over shakily at the Earth Kingdom girl as his vision settled. "Jin? What's going on? Why is everyone gathered up here?"

Wiping some tears of happiness from her eyes as she nodded and hiccupped in an attempt to muffle an urge to cry out in relief, Jin managed to reply, "We're just happy that you're okay. And now that you saved Katara, everything's going to be alright."

"Good, good," answered Zuko absently, clearly still in a daze as he looked around the room and the people assembled within. Whatever the next thing the Fire Prince was going to say was lost as Jeong Jeong burst into the Fire Temple.

The Fire Admiral's attention immediately focused on the Fire Prince and Jeong Jeong seemed to breath out with relief when he caught sight of the alert Zuko. The Admiral marched over quickly. "Prince Zuko! Thank goodness you are alright. And it appears you were successful! Congratulations, sir. It pains me to request this of you at this time, but your presence is required to address the citizenry. The people are lost and they need to hear from their Fire Prince."

"Of course," stated Zuko as he stood up, his eyes focusing and the haze clearing from his head. "I'll address them at once. Lead the way."

The Fire Prince felt Jin grab his hand just as he moved to follow Jeong Jeong. "Hold up. Aren't you going to say anything to Katara?" implored Jin. "You worked so hard to bring her back, especially when most of us had given up."

Zuko looked at his friend with genuine confusion as he muttered, "You mentioned that name before..." The Fire Prince held his head as a sharp pain subsided.

Then, Zuko asked a question that froze Jin cold. "Who's Katara?"

Jin wasn't alone in her reaction. Toph, Sokka, and Hakoda shared similar looks of disbelief as they heard Zuko's question.

However, when Zuko didn't get a response, he looked at his friends strangely for a moment before stating, "We'll talk later." Then, Zuko hurried after the Fire Admiral waiting at the doors to the Fire Temple.

The sound of the Fire Temple entrance shutting behind the Fire Prince jolted everyone back to reality as multiple eyes shifted over toward Katara.

Shakily, Jin asked fearfully, "Katara, didn't you have anything you wanted to say to Zuko?"

"To who?" replied the waterbender in confusion. "Are you talking about that boy who just left?"

Jin, Sokka, Toph, and Hakoda all looked at each other with concern and worry clearly apparent on their faces. Then, they turned to Aang in unison. "What happened in the Spirit World, Aang?" questioned Sokka as he was the first to voice the question on everyone's minds.

Aang honestly did not know what to say to his friends. He had spent the majority of his time talking to Roku about his own problems. He had no idea what was going on with Katara and Zuko and why neither of them seemed to recognize the other.

Shaking his head, the airbender answered, "I really don't know. Roku didn't tell me about this. Maybe it's a side effect from whatever spirit magic Zuko used?"

"I don't like this," muttered Sokka as he looked back at the closed Fire Temple door. "I'm thankful that Katara's back. I know we all are. But something was definitely still lost."

From up above, Roku glared at Wan Shi Tong. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" the ancient Avatar accused.

Marking the results down in a scroll as he reviewed the information he had learned, Wan Shi Tong appeared annoyed at Roku's outburst. "I told the little upstart that the world would balance itself somehow. He was arrogant enough to think he could control fate."

Closing the scroll, Wan Shi Tong had the decency to look reflective as he considered, "Although, losing all memories of the one you were trying to save. And them of you. Not an outcome I would have predicted."

"Is this lost permanent? Or is there a way for them to regain their memories?" asked Roku.

"Restore more loss things?" scoffed Wan Shi Tong. "Isn't that exactly what landed those fools down there into this mess they find themselves in now? The greed of humans never ceases to astound me." With that, Wan Shi Tong disappeared in a swirl of feathers.

Roku sighed as he glanced back down on the Fire Temple below. Contemplatively, the ancient Avatar pondered if this was the only cost that had been paid, or if there were more so-called balances that the world had deemed necessary for this exchange.

---

Sometime later, Katara sat on a large bed with Jin opposite of her. They were in a wing of rooms within the Imperial Fire Palace catered to guests of the Royal Family. Zuko had housed all the leaders of the invasion force there while providing a nearby dormitory for the remainder of the troops to rest.

"What do you remember?" asked Jin carefully as she studied her friend.

The waterbender thought back. "We were fighting Azula. I was using bloodbending to stop her lightning after she melted the metal lightning rod you bent. There was a cave-in after her last attack. I was hit with a falling rock. I was in bad shape. I shouldn't have been able to heal a wound that bad, especially as exhausted as I was."

"You didn't. You died," explained Jin.

"That can't be right. How am I here now then?" asked Katara.

"Because Zuko went to the Spirit World. He did something over there and brought you back," continued Jin. Then, the earthbender leaned in closer. "You really don't remember him?"

"No," answered Katara as she shook her head. "You're talking about the Fire Prince right? Why would he do that for me? I don't even know who he is."

"Because he loves you and you love him," replied Jin earnestly.

"But I don't know him! And he didn't seem to know me back in the Fire Temple," denied the Water Tribe girl. "None of this makes any sense. I know that I've never met him before. All these stories you keep bringing up, I remember you being there and my Brother later, but before all that, I was traveling alone after I got away from the prison rig."

"Ugh!" groaned Jin as she rubbed her forehead with her palm. She paused as a thought came to mind. "Then, how did you escape the prison rig? How did you escape from almost becoming a slave?"

"Oh come on, I told you that before, back when we first met at your ranch," answered Katara. However, it was the waterbender's turn to pause as she thought back on the memory. How did she get away? Everything about that day was fuzzy. But she clearly got away somehow though.

Jin caught onto her friend's hesitation. "See! I told you that Zuko helped you escape."

"Just because I can't remember, doesn't mean that this Fire Prince saved me from almost becoming a slave," returned the waterbender. Katara got up and started to pace the room. "Besides, what does it even matter? We defeated the Fire Lord. This Zuko person will take control of the Fire Nation. If he's as good as everyone says, then the world will be alright. I don't need to get to know him. Besides, there is so much more that needs to get done. Dad says that we need to arrange a meeting with leaders from each of the nations so that everyone can determine a way forward together. And a lot of the Water Tribe warriors are eager to return home now that the fighting is over. Sokka, Dad, and I... it's been so long since we've been home."

Jin watched as her friend ranted as the waterbender paced back and forth. "Something's still missing, isn't it?" Jin astutely noted.

Katara halted mid-step as the Water Tribe girl seemed to realize something. Her eyes lighting up, Katara exclaimed, "You're right! There was something else. Aang! I need to keep healing Aang! Azula really did a number on Aang when he was imprisoned. So many broken bones that didn't heal correctly. It's going to take a lot of work and a lot of time for me to heal Aang's injuries."

Jin rolled her eyes. "No, not that. Well, that is important, but that's not what I'm talking about." However, Katara was already moving to leave the room to go find Aang.

Katara opened the door to her room and nearly walked into her Dad as he had his hand raised to knock on the now open doorframe. "Oh! Hi there," greeted Hakoda in surprise. "I just wanted to see how you're doing."

"Thanks Dad, but for the sixth time in the last hour, I'm doing fine," answered Katara with a smile. "Thanks for checking up on me, but it's getting tiring."

"Ah, you're right. I just can't believe you're really here," stated Hakoda. He fumbled with an item from his pocket. "Here. I wanted to give you this. I thought you might want it back." He held up Kya's betrothal necklace.

Katara's hand instinctively went up to her neck when she saw the necklace in her Dad's hands. "That can't be right. I'm wearing Mom's necklace already," she said as the waterbender undid the clasp holding the jewelry around her neck. Raising the blue stone to eye level, Katara stared inquisitively at a design that appeared foreign to her. "This... this isn't Mom's necklace... Why am I wearing this?"

"It was a gift from Zuko," answered Jin as she walked up to her friend. "Don't you remember receiving it? You were so happy when he gave that necklace to you."

Katara traced her finger across the Fire Nation royal emblem that was intertwined with the Water Tribe Wolf Cove emblem engraved across the surface. For the life of her, Katara couldn't remember a single thing about this necklace. Who gave it to her, when she had received it, why she had been wearing it, nothing.

Taking her Mother's necklace from her Dad, Katara replaced it across her neck. The waterbender glanced at the other necklace in her hand for a moment before dropping her hand back down to her side. Shaking her head, Katara muttered, "No, I don't recall anything at all."

Jin frowned as she stared at her friend for a moment. Then, Jin's eyes widened with surprise before she pointed to her own right eye, gesturing at the Water Tribe girl to do the same.

Katara raised her free hand to her left eye and was surprised to feel dampness as the Water Tribe girl caught a single tear running down face. Exclaiming her hand, Katara stuttered softly in confusion, "I-I'm... crying?"