Chapter Text
The moon was at its highest point, shining like a diamond while the clouds passed in front of her. Illuminated by its intense light, three solitaire figures, one of them bigger than the other two, walked through a dark forest belonging to the Earth Kingdom. They had been walking for three weeks without rest, the only clothes they had were their crimson red hoods, old and worn by the passage of time. Their food was almost gone and they had nothing to drink. Anyway, they knew they couldn't stop in any town to resupply. It was very dangerous. Furthermore, they were already very close to their destination.
“Mommy, I’m hungry,” a two-year black-haired boy named Zuko called her mother, a young woman with black hair and sparkling amber eyes, who was holding his hand while carrying her other kid, the newborn Azula, who was comfortably sleeping, with her other arm.
“I know, sweetie, I know,” Ursa answered looking forward. She managed to perceive a faint light in the distance. “Please, hold on a little. We’re almost there.”
“But where are we going?”
Ursa looked at the light, which was now approaching towards them. “To see an old friend.”
They kept walking towards the light, closing the distance between them until, finally, Ursa came face to face with another brown-haired woman her age, wearing an orange and yellow tunic that also had a blue arrow tattooed on her forehead.
“Ursa.” The woman bowed at her.
“Nyima.” Ursa bowed back at her.
“He’s waiting for you” Nyima stepped aside and extended her arm, pointing the way. “This way, please.”
Ursa tightened the grip she had on her children as they moved forward, following Nyima.
It didn't take them long to reach a clearing in the forest where a small camp was located. There, a small group of people with clothes identical to Nyima's were waiting for them. Everyone made a brief, polite bow as Ursa approached them. The crackling of the campfire and the sound of the night insects was all that could be heard in that place, which helped Ursa, who kept looking everywhere feeling like they were being followed, calm her nerves a little.
One of the men pointed to one of the tents while another opened the entrance slightly for her.
“Zuko, please stay here with your sister. I’ll be right back” Ursa said as she handed the baby she had in her arms to her son.
“Aww, why?” Zuko complained as Ursa entered to the tent.
Once inside, she found a man with his back to her kneeling before an altar dedicated to the image of a plump-looking man who also had a blue arrow engraved on his forehead.
“You're hard to find, old man, you knew that?”
The man, who until then had been praying silently, turned to her and smiled. His eyes, old and tired, seemed to lighten a little when they met hers.
“And still, you did it, little lotus”
Ursa smirked and approached the old monk to hug him. “It’s nice to see you again, Avatar Aang.”
“Please, my dear, call me uncle.”
The two had known each other since she was a child, although they had not seen each other for a long time. She was technically his granddaughter, a descendant of his previous life, Avatar Roku. He used to visit her and her mother Rina a lot to spend time with his predecessor's family, whom he learned to love as if they were his own. In some ways, it already was, but playing dolls with the girl, helping her tend her humble garden, and going to see the plays she and her previous boyfriend put on made it feel even more personal to him. And also, for her.
No wonder she came to him now for help.
“Does your husband know you’re here?” The last thing Aang knew about Ursa before they lost contact was that she was forced by Fire Lord Azulon to marry his youngest son, prince Ozai, and that she was taken away from her home to be taken to live in the Fire Nation Royal Palace. He heard some rumors about her children, but could not confirm them until now.
In fact, this was the first time in three years they had seen each other.
“I see you’ve already met my wife Nyima and some of my friends” Aang served her some tea.
“Oh, yeah, she seems nice.” Ursa drank a sip of tea. “You know, some rumors reached the palace that you also had children…”
“We did” Aang confirmed “But right now, they’re in our hideout. It’s not safe for them to be outside. Not with the Fire Nation lurking around constantly.”
“I see” Ursa left her cup in the ground looking down. “Maybe next time.”
The two were silent for a while.
“Ursa, my dear.” Aang finally spoke. “We both know you shouldn’t be here, much less with your children, far away from Caldera City. So I guess that you need something from me. with desperation.”
“I… yes, I do” Ursa admitted.
“So tell me” Aang put her cup down and looked into her eyes. “What can your old uncle do for the Fire Lady?”
“It’s my children.” Ursa went straight to the point, clenching her clothes with her fists. “They’re in danger.”
“Your husband?”
Ursa nodded. “You knew that the reason why Fire Lord Azulon committed me to Ozai was because of my lineage?”
“What do you mean?”
“According to the Fire Sages, a marriage between descendants of Sozin and Roku would result in the most powerful firebenders the world has ever seen.” A shiver ran down her spine. “When Zuko was born, we were not sure if he was a firebender or not. Ozai despised him immediately. He almost threw him off a balcony after he failed to produce a single flame a month after he was born. If it weren’t for him coughing a little spark…”
Ursa’s eyes filled with tears and she began to sob. Aang simply offered her a tissue and put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay, little lotus. It’s okay.” Aang’s calm tone managed to comfort her as she stopped sobbing and wiped away her tears with the tissue. “What about the other kid?”
“Azula? It’s even worse with her.”
“Because she’s not a firebender?”
“Because she is” Ursa looked to Aang with saddened eyes. “She lit tinder with her breath in her first few hours of life. She became Ozai’s favorite in no matter of time. He gloated about the great plans he had for her.”
“I see.” Aang said thoughtful. “Being the most hated child of the Fire Prince or being his favorite child. Indeed, it’s hard to see which one is worse.”
“It’s not like I care about that. I only care about getting my children as far as I can from that horrible place.” Ursa replied. “I heard some stories about you and your little crusade to save what remains of the Air Nomads...”
Aang didn’t say anything. For the last seventy-two years, he had been from one place to another, looking for survivors of his culture as well as their descendants, to take them to a safe place only he and a few others from his absolute trust knew about. Despite he knew he had to focus on the war and stopping the Fire Nation expansion over the Earth Kingdom, he decided to pay all his attention in preserving his people’s culture. After all, they were the first ones he failed. He had to make it up to them.
Thanks to him, a small part of the culture that had been wiped out during the Air Nomad Genocide survived the war. But in contrast to that achievement, the Fire Nation did not have any obstacles on expanding over the rest of the world: they obliterated the Water Tribes Navy, eradicated the Southern Water Tribe waterbenders and took over half of the Earth Kingdom lands.
He made it up to his people, but failed the rest of the world.
“…I had a hard time finding someone that could help me reach you. Luckily, my brother-in-law knows a lot of people around the world, including some of your airbenders. So, I grabbed my children and came here, hoping that you could help us hide from Ozai and his forces.” Ursa looked at the old Avatar, imploring. “Please, I need this. They need this.”
Aang looked at the ground, thinking. For a long time, he had been rejecting his Avatar status and the responsibilities that came with it. He knew it, just as he also knew that he didn't have much time left. He would die without having made a substantial change in the world. He would be remembered as the worst Avatar in history. It was too late for him.
But maybe, just maybe, he could save his predecessor’s family. Maybe he could give these kids an opportunity to live, grow, and even set everything right. Restore balance in the world. May they succeed where he failed.
Perhaps, this way, he would be able to give meaning to his survival, when Gyatso and everyone else in the Air Temples died, even if it was at the end.
“I will help you, my dear.” Aang stood up and helped her to stand up. “I’ll get you to our hideout. Tonight.”
Ursa smirked and threw herself into his arms. “Thank you, uncle, thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do to compensate for a part of my failures, in this life and the previous one.” Aang replied, looking at her with a smile. “Now, we will have to…”
Suddenly, the candles inside the tent went out and a cold wind blew through the tent entrance. Aang grabbed her staff and walked outside the tent.
“Uncle?” Ursa called him as she followed him, unaware of what had put his uncle in an apparent state of alert.
It wasn't until he saw the snow fall in the forest that she understood what was happening.
The snow was black.
“They’ve found us” Aang tightened his grip on his staff. Zuko, who was learning to play Pai Sho with one of the nuns, ran towards Ursa, while a monk approached her with Azula in his arms.
“Mom?”
Ursa grabbed her son’s hand and held Azula with her left arm. “It’s okay, sweetie, everything is fine.”
Aang continued looking ahead with half-closed eyes and waited. Suddenly, a series of footsteps broke the silence of the night. They sounded orderly, like a march. And they were getting closer.
“You need to leave, now” Aang turned towards his wife and grabbed her hands. “Take Appa with you, fly away and don't stop until you reach the hideout. Understood?
“I will.” Nyima assured him. “Once I’m done with them, I will come back for you.”
“No, you won’t” Aang replied. “You’ll stay with the children and take care of them. Continue their training and make sure they master the airbending, along with the others.
“Aang!”
“Promise, me, Nyima, promise me that you’ll do it.”
Nyima looked at him, doubtful, but finally nodded and hugged him. “I promise”
Aang looked at the other monks and nuns. Words were insufficient how proud of them he was. He was worried, of course, but he hoped that they would be okay without him. And that one day, they would be able to present themselves to the world as the next generation of Air Nomads.
Sadly, he won’t get to see that.
Ursa took him by the shoulder. “Thank you, uncle, for this, and for everything. How can I pay you?”
Aang looked at baby Azula, who was still sleeping in her mother’s left arm. He smiled. “Live. Now go.”
Ursa put her children on the giant sky bison and climbed onto the animal. She turned around and took one last look at the old Avatar, who was once again looking ahead of him, but this time in a combat stance.
“Don’t worry, uncle. I’ll find you again. One day. I promise.”
As the sky bison and the Air Nomads flew away from the place, Aang grabbed his staff with both hands. And waited. A few seconds. A few minutes. It had been five minutes since the black snow had started to fall when a group of giant fireballs were thrown towards him.
Acting fast, Aang used some waterbending to get rid of them before they could even touch him. Suddenly, a group of soldiers surrounded him and commanded him to surrender. Of course, the Avatar wasn’t doing that. Using his airbending skills, Aang threw gusts of wind at them that made them fly through the air. Then, he imprisoned them using some earthbending skills, immobilizing them from the feet to the neck.
With those men out of the fight, Aang was able to catch a breath before focusing his attention on the rest of the soldiers: a group of at least one hundred soldiers commanded by no one else but Prince Ozai in person.
“Well, well, look what we found” Ozai smiled at Aang with a gesture that denoted the pleasure he felt at having the opportunity to be the one to finish off the Avatar once and for all. “Who would have said, that after all these years looking for you, we would finally find you when we weren’t.
“You should leave while you can, Ozai” Aang said in a calm tone. “There’s nothing here for you”
“For you, Avatar, it’s Prince Ozai of the Fire Nation” Ozai advanced towards the monk. “I’m here for my kids. Tell me where they are, and I’ll kill you quickly.”
“Your weapons, you mean” Aang replied. “I’m not going to let you have them.”
Ozai’s laugh almost made Aang tremble, but he remained firm and calm. “You? You pretend to stop me? Come on, look at you. All this power in your hands, centuries of wisdom at your disposal, and for what? What have you done with such gifts for the world you proclaim to protect? Have you stopped us? We’ve only grown stronger. As you played hide and seek with your precious airbenders around the world, we have almost taken over the rest of the world. We’re even planning to siege Ba Sing Se right now. You failed the world, Avatar. And yet, you think you can take up on me?!
A fire ring surrounded the two of them. Aang could feel the heat of the flames surrounding him as he and his rival began to walk in circles around each other, staring at each other.
“At least I’m not a disgrace to my father.”
Ozai’s smile disappeared. “What?”
“You know, I heard that Azulon arranged your marriage with Ursa, my granddaughter from my past life” now, it was Aang who smirked at Ozai, making fun of him. “I mean, the so proclaimed strongest firebender in the world doesn’t manage to get a woman to like him at his thirties so his dad has to steal an already committed woman? Even you have to recognize that’s kind of pathetic.”
Ozai looked at him, stunned. Then, enraged, he began to throw bursts of fire at Aang. Despite his advanced age, Aang was still pretty agile. He dodged Ozai’s flames with graceful jumps before he finally started countering. Using some water he had with him, Aang threw some ice projectiles at Ozai as he ran towards him and landed a blow to his chest, knocking the air out of him. The Fire Prince fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath.
“Surrender and leave, Ozai” Aang told him, more a pleading than an order. “You have no chance against me.”
“We’ll see about that…” Wrapping his fists in flames, Ozai started to attack him again, as Aang crouched or deflected his attacks with his arms. Then, raising a stone column, Aang threw it towards Ozai and made him retreat until he used an explosion to destroy the stone and go back to the fight.
But as Aang said, Ozai was no match for him. After a while exchanging blows, Ozai got tired and once again fell to his knees, unable to keep the fight.
However, he wasn’t ready to give up.
“Attack!”
The Fire Nation soldiers started throwing fireballs to the Avatar, who left Ozai aside to focus on them.
Dodging, crouching, using all the bending techniques he had mastered upon the passage of the years, Aang was able to pull up a pretty good fight. It didn’t matter if they were a million soldiers in front of him. No army was match for the power of the Avatar.
But most of the times, numbers aren’t everything.
As Aang frozen a couple of soldiers with his waterbending, a beam of explosive energy went through him. The old Avatar could just feel how intense pain went through his entire body before falling to the ground. He felt like his whole body was shattered as the cold started embracing him…
“Where, are my manners?” Ozai stood next to Aang, who with a lot of effort turned to him, seeing a huge man, dressed in nothing more than a dull brown tunic and pants. He had dull steel prostheses strapped to his right leg and forearm and a third eye carved in his forehead. “Avatar Aang, let me introduce you a friend of our family. He may be a man of a few words, but, as you can see, he’s the best at what he does.”
Aang coughed as he crawled through the ground. Combustionbending, of course, a specialized firebending technique. Yangchen had fought it on her days and won.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t Yangchen.
“So, this is how Avatar Aang’s story comes to an end.” Ozai smirked as he put his foot over the Air Nomad body, immobilizing him. “And just so you know, this won’t end here. Your precious Air Nomads, I’ll slaughter them all, one by one, and I will take back my children after I had calcined their mother.”
Aang’s eyes began to glow.
“You won’t get a chance.”
Wrapped in a sphere made of fire, water, earth and air, Aang raised over them. Ozai covered his face with his hands as the Avatar threw fire from his fists and mouth. He had never seen such power demonstration before.
“It’s their war now, and they will take up on all of your family for your sins” Aang proclaimed in a deep and serious tone of voice. “You’re right, though, this is the end for me. But it isn’t for us. We will find each other in my next life. And I will stop you.”
The soldiers pointed towards him as so did the combustionbender, while Ozai looked at him, wordless and shocked.
“I promise you that.”
Then, a great explosion consumed that part of the forest on a ball of smoke and fire.
From where they were, the Air Nomads along with Ursa and her kids were able to see the explosion. And as they did, they realized that nothing and no one could have survived such thing.
It was over.
The Avatar Aang was gone.
Feeling like her heart squeezed, Ursa turned to see Nyima, who was already looking at her. Aware of their respective postures, both women hugged each other in a silent cry as the Avatar’s sky bison took them away from that place, where now there was nothing else but death and sorrow.
In the Northern Water Tribe, Chief Arnook and his wife Ila welcomed their first child, a beautiful white-haired girl whose crying could be heard throughout the royal palace.