Avatar: The Fifth Element

24. Enlightenment

Several days had passed, and Rumi was back to her usual tough self. She now sat in a cave with Guru Pathik, prepared to open her first chakra.

"The first chakra is the earth chakra," Guru Pathik began. "This one deals with survival, and is blocked by fear. I want you to picture your greatest fear, and imagine yourself overcoming it."

Rumi took in a shaky breath. She wasn't used to meditating like this. Well, she wasn't used to meditation at all. When she trained with Kaito, it was always fuelled by anger and rage-full energy. Everything about this calmness was foreign to her, but she complied.

Her eyes shut, and Rumi stared into the dark nothingness until small images started to appear. Stars scattered across the darkness, and the earth soon came into view. Outside of her body, Rumi watched a vision of herself. She saw herself angrier than she'd ever been, unable to keep her power contained. Shooting stars cascaded into the earth, scarring and wounding it. Without thinking, Rumi tried to run to herself. She grabbed onto her arm and saw evil in her own face. She looked herself dead in the eyes, allowing herself to be sympathetic.

"You're not a monster, you don't scare me."

The vision quickly faded away and Rumi felt a wave of calm rush over her. Her chest felt less heavy, and she could breathe. Her motions were no longer shaky once she opened her eyes.

"Congratulations, you've opened your first chakra," Pathik said proudly.

Now, it was time for the second one. Guru Pathik had told her it was the water chakra, dealing with pleasure, and blocked by guilt.

Once again, Rumi was wrapped up in a horrifying vision. This time, however, it was an event that had occurred, quite recently at that.

She had to relive the moment where she hurt Zuko the most. He had tried to help her, and she felt herself saying nasty things to him, and pushing him away. It took all of her power to pull herself away from it all.

The memory melted away, and all that was left was Zuko, and Rumi once again felt at peace.

When dealing with the third chakra, fire, Rumi found herself hesitant to confront what was blocking her. The fire chakra deals with willpower, and is blocked by shame.

Shame. That was something Rumi tried to avoid. The feeling left a pit in her stomach, and she was used to living life shamelessly. However, she was extremely ashamed of one very large aspect of her life.

Her whole body tensed as she watched herself remain at Kaito's side. She trained with him, defended him, kissed him, all while he was nothing but demeaning towards her. She watched herself get insulted and hurt over and over only for Kaito's own gain. She saw the lust in his eyes, something she hadn't seen before.

Rumi looked at herself and felt so weak, but pushing the thought aside, she allowed the tension to leave her body.

"I left him," she told herself. "I'll never go back."

Her third chakra was open.

Guru Pathik was now smiling and handing Rumi a bowl of banana onion soup. Begrudgingly, she took a sip and winced.

"The fourth chakra is air. It's right at your heart, and deals with love. It is blocked by grief," he explained.

"Grief? I, I don't think I'm grieving anything," Rumi ran a hand through her messy hair, trying hard to think of something.

"Don't think so hard," Pathik said. "Close your eyes, and let it flow."

Rumi closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, hoping that something buried deep inside would surface, but nothing did. Loss was something Rumi believed she'd never experienced. As she grew more frustrated, her body tensed and her eyes shot open.