Path Ahead

Balance Restored

Aang knelt before Azula, knowing that this wasn't going to get easier if he waited. He assumed that the fire sages would be back by the time he was done, and he could address them, as well as the rest of the spectators, at that time.

He placed one hand on Azula's forehead and the other on her collarbone. Then he closed his eyes and opened himself completely, the way the lion-turtle had taught him. Azula's rage and hate poured into him, searing him like fire. Their force was more powerful than Aang had expected, and he gritted his teeth as he fought the torrent.

It was not just her emotion that flooded him but her charisma, her sheer force of personality, her conviction that she had been born to rule. He felt overwhelmed with all of this as it filled him, scalded him. It threatened to burn him out, leaving him an empty husk.

For a moment, he was tempted to give in. There was so little of him left; it would be such a small thing to let go and welcome silence and oblivion. It had been only a subjective year since he had learned he was the Avatar, and the time had been spent in almost constant turmoil and struggle for survival. He was tired and wrung out, and maybe it really didn't matter anymore. Maybe the world would be better off left to the next Avatar.

Just as he had nearly decided that, however, his mind was filled with images of Katara: the wind whipping her hair loops as he opened his eyes to see her for the first time; moving fluidly to help him shape the clouds above Aunt Wu's village; defiance and cold combining to flush her cheeks as she fought Master Pakku for the right to train with him; torchlight casting shadows on her face in The Cave of Two Lovers; tears streaming down her cheeks after getting through Serpent's Pass; all made up and dressed to go out in Ba Sing Se; sharing a dance with him in the Fire Nation; exchanging kisses.

No. He would not let that go. He wouldn't let her go. He had lost so much already; he refused to lose this. Love welled up inside him, filling him to overflowing. It swallowed up Azula's energy like a hungry beast, pushing beyond Aang's body and into the Firelord. It was a force she didn't understand and couldn't resist.

Other faces appeared in Aang's memory in a steady stream, although Katara's remained at the forefront. The past, present and future seemed to merge into this one moment. Time, normally a river flowing in one direction, had instead become a whirlpool that swirled around him in rapidly closing circles.

Aang was no longer certain where he left off and the world began, but this didn't frighten him as it once might have. Separations were illusions, even those between distinct individuals. He understood this now as he had never understood it before, though not in a way that he could ever express in words. Everything was connected. He was the world and the world was him, so for the moment, it didn't matter that he couldn't find himself.

At last, it was over. He separated his consciousness out from the space-time continuum in a manner reminiscent of picking up a noodle with chopsticks. He let go of Azula and opened his eyes. One thing had become abundantly clear to him. He was done putting things off.

Suddenly, the soldiers around Suki began throwing down their weapons. Those that were firebenders simply dropped to the ground. The female warrior looked around, wondering what had happened. She hadn't noticed any obvious change in the tide of battle, but then again, she'd been pretty focused on her immediate surroundings.

"They're surrendering," said Sokka from somewhere to her left, and he sounded as mystified as Suki felt. She searched the faces of the people from the Fire Nation ships that had miraculously fought on her side and discovered that their attention was firmly fixed behind her. She turned around slowly while Sokka made his way to her side, and they both finally saw what had ended the battle.