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sophieinwonderland · 1 month

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The Plurality of... Avatar: The Last Airbender

Major Spoilers For Avatar: The Last Airbender ahead! And minor spoilers of related properties.

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

Welcome to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. A world where some people are born with the gift of bending, an ancient art that allows them to control one of the four elements. But only one. Even if they came from parents who were different types of benders, each bender only gets a single element.

But there exists a single exception to this rule. The Avatar. The one person in the world who can master all four elements.

But we're not here to talk about the Avatar's cool bending powers. We're here today to talk about…

The Plurality of The Avatar

Plurality: A state of multiple self-conscious agents, or "headmates," sharing a single body.

The Avatar isn't merely a jack of all trades bender. Simply knowing how to use the four elements is only a small part of their toolbelt. And perhaps one of the least important. Despite the series placing a strong focus on the need to master all four elements, perhaps the actual most important thing about the Avatar is that they reincarnate and are connected with their past selves.

This allows each Avatar to speak to and learn from the experiences of past avatars. This is most prominent in what's called the Avatar State, a sort of super form where their eyes (and downvotes) glow as they channel the skills and abilities of all the past avatars through them.

(Art by @joeyscomics)

Aang's avatar state is a sort of blending of the avatars without a distinct identity of its own.

Additionally, there were also a couple instances through the show where Aang, the current avatar, switches into other avatars.

During the season 1 mid-season finale, The Winter Solstice, Aang first contacts Avatar Roku, his firebending predecessor. Trapped in a temple with no way out, a group stands outside the door prepared to strike as soon as the avatar steps through. They expect to see a small child walk through the doors. But what they see instead is Avatar Roku.

Once the enemies have been defeated and fled, Roku turns back into an exhausted Aang, who drops to his knees.

In season 2, this happens again with Aang switching into avatar Kyoshi. Again, sure to spirit magic, Aang physically transforms into Kyoshi.

(Obviously, real plurals don't physically transform, as cool as that would be. But spirits in the avatar universe do have shape-changing capabilities, being able to alter both their own forms and the forms of others. There are many examples in Legend of Korra and the comics, but one big one we see in A:TLA is Koh The Face Stealer, who as you can guess, steals people's faces, physically transforming their bodies. Simply put, we can accept the Avatar Spirit as having the ability to naturally shapeshift.)

So there's the basics of the Avatar's plurality. We have multiple people sharing a body. We have system-like internal communication. We have switching. And we even have a state that could be best described as blendy.

In the plural community, a system that's formed from past lives is sometimes called Fenigenic or Phoenigenic, drawing its name from the phoenix; The mythical bird that dies and is reborn from its ashes.

From Pluralpedia:

Fenigenic is a system origin that describes systems who formed from past lives in some way. They may believe they left their past life and were reborn again as a system, came into the system from a past life into the body (causing plurality), were a system in a past life and were reborn again with the same one, and/or various other scenarios. This is an intentionally broad label that can describe many different experiences.

With these established facts, without a doubt, the avatar would qualify as a Pheonigenic system.

But I want to delve even deeper. Because at its core, Avatar: The Last Airbender isn't just a story about a kid who happens to be plural. It's a story about plurality. It's a story about dissociation. About connecting with and building connections with parts of yourself. And about taking responsibility for those parts, even when you aren't actually them. And all of this is what make the series so fascinating from a plural perspective!

The Avatar State as a "Self-Defense Mechanism"

At the beginning of season 2, Aang enters the avatar state while scared of losing his friends, and talks to Roku again. Roku explains to Aang what the avatar state is.

The Avatar State is a defense mechanism, designed to empower you with the skill and knowledge of all the past Avatars. The glow is the combination of all your past lives focusing their energy through your body. In the Avatar State, you're at your most powerful... but you are also at your most vulnerable.

At this point, Aang learns that if he dies in the Avatar State, the cycle breaks and the avatar will never reincarnate again.

Let's take another look at that wording though. "The Avatar State is a defense mechanism." It's a word choice that you wouldn't expect to find in a fantasy cartoon. "Defense mechanisms" are more a psychological term, having their origins in psychoanalysis.

Why does this matter?

Because the avatar state, at its core, is a dissociative state. And dissociation has often been described as a defense mechanism itself. From Wikipedia:

In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or defense mechanism in seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress – including boredom or conflict.

And later when talking about traumamatic dissociation, it goes on to explain:

Symptoms of dissociation resulting from trauma may include depersonalization, psychological numbing, disengagement, or amnesia regarding the events of the abuse. It has been hypothesized that dissociation may provide a temporarily effective defense mechanism in cases of severe trauma; however, in the long term, dissociation is associated with decreased psychological functioning and adjustment.

What's interesting about the avatar state is that, while there are some times Aang goes into the Avatar State to protect himself, often he enters it as a response to stress in general.

The first couple times we see Aang go into the Avatar State, it's to physically protect himself. Once to freeze himself. Then again to fight Zuko. But the next time he enters the Avatar State, there's no danger. There's no need to use it.

This is when he's at the Southern Air Temple, and sees his old friend Monk Gyatsu. It's when he really learns and has to process that he's the last airbender and everyone he ever knew is dead.

Aang doesn't use the avatar state as a physical defense mechanism here. Rather, he enters the avatar state as a psychological defense mechanism.

It takes over because he's disengaging. He just learned something traumatic and he can't come to terms with it. He shuts down, and his friends have to reach him through the pain.

This becomes a pretty common theme throughout the series from then on. Sometimes, it's the physical danger that causes him to transform. But other times, he's triggered into this state by his friends being in danger, or from losing Appa.

Time and time again, we see the Avatar State as being triggered by extreme mental stress more often than by any sort of physical stress.

A big part of Aang's journey though the series then becomes learning to master the Avatar State and the dissociation that comes with it. To take control of it instead of letting it control him.

Avatar's Take on System Responsibility

"System responsibility" is the concept in the plural community that if one headmate does something, then the entire system of headmates is responsible for it. Some feel this is unfair, but for practicality, it makes sense. If someone steals something, then obviously you can't send only one headmate to prison. So a big part of being plural ends up having to accept that if someone else you share a body with does something wrong, even if you don't agree with it or don't even remember it, you're responsible for it.

And Avatar has its own form of this, where all Avatars have a single spirit that is reincarnated, and are therefore responsible for the actions of their past lives.

This is most exemplified in the episode Avatar Day.

In this episode, the Gaang wander into a town that's celebrating the titular Avatar Day. They see a parade with massive wooden floats of the past three Avatars. Aang, Roku and Kyoshi.

What appears to be a nice festival that the Gaang is enjoying is quickly turned on its head when a villager sets fires to the figures and the crowd begins chanting "down with the Avatar" while the figures burn.

It turns out, this town believed Avatar Kyoshi murdered their leader, Chin The Great.

In order to prove he wasn't a murderer, Aang volunteers to stand trial. Even though Aang and Kyoshi are separate people in a way... in another, they aren't. And Kyoshi being a murderer is something that would continue to follow Aang around.

So he agrees to go on trial, and refuses encouragement from his friends to escape. And he could escape if wanted to.

When viewed through the lens of a plural system, what we see here is a demonstration of system responsibility, where Aang is showing himself willing to take responsibility for the actions of past Avatars.

Later in the episode, Katara decides that they need to call Kyoshi herself to prove their innocence, and dresses Aang in Kyoshi's clothes to "see if it might trigger something."

And it actually does! This stunt causes Kyoshi to take front! (With a full body transformation because spirit stuff.)

In the end, Kyoshi confesses to killing Chin, who she calls Chin the Conqueror, and Aang is willing to accept the outcome of the trial.

It's not just this one episode though. It's a running theme of the series.

The franchise even.

In season 3, Roku reveals that the whole reason the world was in danger was because of his connection to and weakness in stopping Fire Lord Sozin, who went on to wipe out the Air Nomads. Aang is left with the responsibility of making up for Roku's mistakes.

In the books, it's revealed that Avatar Kyoshi's earliest trials were a direct result of the failings of Kuruk, the avatar before her. And his were a result of Yangchen's mistakes. And in the sequel series, avatar Korra is left to make up for the mistakes of not just Aang, but also Avatar Wan who started the cycle.

The Avatars are people who share a single soul. Each new avatar can be viewed as a new host in the same system. And each one therefore is responsible for making up for the mistakes of those that came before.

This is what the avatar franchise, at its core, is about. A single system making mistakes through life after life, and having to fix those mistakes in the next, hopefully making the world a better place and keeping balance along the way.

A Story of Connection and Balance

With all of this in mind, Aang begins his journey is a system cut off from his headmates.

A central theme of the story is restoring that connection. This story really begins with Aang entering the avatar state in the Southern Air Temple. This is the first time he loses control and nearly hurts the people he cares about.

The avatar state here is something powerful, yes, but also something to be feared, making him a danger to his friends. He doesn't understand at the time what that state is exactly. It's something that leaves him confused and scared.

Through the series, he gradually learns more about the avatar state and his past lives. He begins to learn from avatar Roku. Then from Kyoshi. He learns about their lives, and has to reconcile their past mistakes. He also has to learn to accept himself as the avatar. Something which he struggled with throughout the series, and led to him fleeing his people.

At the end of season 2, Aang nearly dies in the avatar state. In a canon webgame called Escape from the Sprit World, while unconscious, Aang enters the spirit world and goes on a journey where he has to reconnect with the past avatars in order to prevent the avatar cycle from being broken, going back all the way to meet Avatar Yangchen, the airbender before him.

After meeting and learning from all these avatars, he's able to awaken with a new connection to them. (Albeit with no memory of this side quest.) Although he's told he won't be able to enter the Avatar State for the time being.

After this, on the Summer Solstice, he was able to meet with Roku once again to learn about Roku's own past, and his history with Fire Lord Sozin.

All of these events laid the groundwork for a final realization in the series finale. That the past avatars were always with him. He's able to meditate and reach out, and commune with each of them.

Finally, Aang has become a fully-realized avatar, tearing down barriers that kept him separate from the rest of his system!

And in the final battle, Aang is able to access the avatar state with full control over it for the first time.

Some would say that this was because of a conveniently-placed rock. Which, yes, that might have been the literal trigger that unblocked his chi. But narratively, I would argue that it was the connection with the past avatars that truly allowed him to access the avatar state again. That finally connecting with them all was how he truly earned this ability!

Conclusion

So there we have it! The story of Avatar: The Last Airbender is not just an incredible story, but an incredible story of plurality and connection between headmate.

This was really fun to write about, and I enjoyed talking about the plurality of the Avatar.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read!

I think with that, I've covered everythi...

Oh... right...

I guess I didn't cover everything about the plurality of the Avatar, did I?

Guess I need to plan for a Plurality of The Legend of Korra in the future! 😁

(And if you're interested in more of my ramblings about plural representations, you can check out my post about the Plurality of Batman. Or you can read about The Plurality of The Hybrid Chronicles: What's Left of Me, where I analyze a novel about a world where everyone is born with two souls.)

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burst-of-iridescent · 7 months

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Aang was indeed a bad father. It's way past time we stopped making excuses for him.

An all too common defense for Aang is the fact that he's a monk and is not well-versed in how parenting looks. Yeah! No shit! But do you know who is well-versed? Katara! They talk as if Aang is a single parent like Toph but he is not. Katara's been on Aang's side since the day they met, always stood up for him, always complimented him.

Is this really the thanks she gets? Are they really that disinterested in explaining Katara's side of the story? As if her not getting a statue wasn't insulting enough.

Another major flaw in this defense is that Aang is not just a monk. He's the avatar. This means, part of mastering all elements also means embodying all of the ideologies based on said elements. That includes elements/ideologies completely opposite of his own. His daughter's crack about Aang "cutting and running when things get tough" shows that he's learned absolutely nothing.

We never truly see him master all the elements, he just gets them and, more or less, calls it a day. I'm even beginning to doubt that he's truly mastered his default airbending and he just got his tattoos prematurely because the monks were impressed with his scooter invention.

Zuko got the privilege of understanding the ideologies of other nations, allowing him to grow, and unlearn any toxic masculinity lessons through them, and would blow a gasket if he ever saw a kid get mistreated by a parent in any way. Is it really any wonder why Zuko is the more popular character and the most requested choice for Katara, in comparison to Aang?

using the "but he was a monk!" argument to excuse aang's bad parenting is fucking baffling to me. even leaving aside that aang did have a father figure (or are we collectively ignoring monk gyatso?), i don't think you need to witness fatherhood in action to understand that showing preferential treatment to one of your children is a messed up thing to do. that seems like the kind of thing that should be common sense, especially when you're best friends with the guy who's walking proof of what happens when you play favourites with your kids.

truthfully, i also don't fully agree with katara being able to compensate for aang's supposed lack of knowledge. while i do believe katara was a good mother, and i don't think it was her responsibility to teach her own husband how to be a good parent, i have my doubts about how much, if ever, katara called aang out on his behaviour towards bumi and kya. if their relationship in atla was any indication, i suspect katara very much turned a blind eye (or at most tried to gently suggest that aang pay more attention to bumi and kya) to aang's flaws in this area, as she (unfortunately) does in most others. that's one of the reasons i was never able to get onboard with kat.aang, because katara is the only one of the gaang who is never able to meaningfully challenge aang, even when he desperately needs it. (the only time i recall her trying to push him to do something he doesn't want is in sozin's comet when the fate of the literal world depended upon it. not a good omen, methinks.)

the katara we knew in atla might not have idly sat by while aang favored his airbending child over the others, but the seeds for who she turns out to be in lok are already planted. it's not a stretch to see how katara's blind faith in aang, and her unwillingness to confront his flaws, could have easily led her down the path to the woman who would fail to stop her husband from neglecting two of their children.

it's no surprise that aang in lok is repeating all the same mistakes he did in atla, because his character arc came to a screeching halt at the start of book 3 and was never picked back up again. how are we meant to believe that aang ever became the avatar (yknow, the embodiment of all four nations in one) when he was still, at the very end of the show, prioritizing the values of one nation over the others?

truly the shocker of the century that people might prefer katara to be with a character who had a believable arc with well-written development and a satisfying conclusion, instead of the narrative equivalent of a brick wall.

#anti kataang #zutara #aang critical

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foxyanon · 3 months

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To End A War: HoTD/TLK Crossover, ATLA AU

Book 1: Water

Chapter 1: The Avatar

Pairing(s): Aemond Targaryen x Avatar!Reader, Sihtric Kjartansson x Avatar!Reader

Summary: The end begins…

Word Count: 2,406

TW: Character death, mention of bloodbending

Disclaimer: I do not own any images used nor any of the characters from House of The Dragon, The Last Kingdom or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Many thanks to @arcielee for making the dividers for this series!

Earth. Fire. Air. Water.

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony, but everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. Sadly, Avatar Aang was found and captured after having evaded the Fire Nation for 75 years. The air bender had challenged Fire Lord Daemon to an Agni Kai when the Southern Air Temple came under attack and subsequently lost the fight due to the vulnerability Aang experienced when he entered the Avatar state. The resulting massacre of the airbenders at the temple and the brutal death of the Avatar shook the world to its core, and it seemed all hope was lost.

Most of the knowledge surrounding the Avatar cycle was obscured from the public, many only knowing parts of the stories behind the legend. However, Daemon knew that he had only deferred the inevitable since the Avatar would reincarnate within the water tribe next. While the Northern Water Tribe had not shown to be the birthplace of the next Avatar, that left only the Southern Water Tribe. Fortunately for the balance of the world, the Southern Tribe was notoriously recluse and difficult to reach, even for the might of the Fire Nation. The ever moving icebergs and harsh snowstorms meant that the Fire Navy couldn’t reach any of the settlements within the South Pole. It is here, where the water bending Avatar has hidden for 25 years, waiting and training for the day where she would end this never ending war.

From the day of my birth, my parents knew I was destined for something greater than myself. My training began in earnest when I was old enough to walk since I was among the last of the southern waterbenders and the Avatar. My mentor, Master Hama, often took me away from the rest of the tribe for us to train away from prying eyes. From the beginning, she drilled the importance of not showing mercy to my enemies into my head, showing me how to pull water from every available source and how to manipulate water on a larger scale. When I was 16, she showed me a previously unknown form of waterbending, bloodbending. Since I knew her entire story, I knew she had suffered greatly under the hands of the Fire Nation and thus her unorthodox methods never phased me. I knew there was a great pressure on me to learn as much as possible, as the chances of me being able to learn any of the other elements were rather slim at the time being. The fate of the world rested on my shoulders and I was determined not to fail.

I remain hidden within Grey Wolf Village, far from the capital of the South Pole. I still train daily, but Master Hama’s age has started to catch up with her and she is incapable of going too far from the village for our training. Of all the lessons she has taught me, none have been more important than hiding my identity from the world. “The world is full of monsters disguised as men, you must never let them know who you are,” she would say. I often slipped away from the village, trying to teach myself the other elements whenever Hama wasn’t hovering over me. It was difficult, especially since I had a hard time connecting myself to my past lives and therefore couldn’t ask for their guidance. I knew I would need to find masters to help teach me the other elements, but that would be near impossible since I was the most wanted person within the Fire Nation.

It was on one of these secret excursions that I first saw them, the massive metal ship flying the banner of the Fire Nation causing my heart to nearly stop. I had been trying to teach myself fire bending, but it hadn’t been going according to plan. Instead, I somehow managed to nearly set myself on fire while also melting a fair amount of the snow around me. My failed attempt at firebending must have been seen from the deck of the warship, and now my people were going to suffer for my foolishness. They were sailing straight for the village and everyone there was defenseless, save a handful of warriors and Hama. Without thinking, I jumped into the saddle of my loyal companion, a polar bear dog named Ivalu and we ran towards our home, hoping to arrive before it was too late.

Prince Aemond had been watching along the shoreline, something in his gut telling him he was in the right place. Navigating the ice fields had been hazardous but he was determined to investigate every inch of the frozen landscape until his curiosity was satisfied. He could feel the eyes of his aunt, Princess Rhaenys, on him as he looked through the spyglass. Her ever constant presence by side since that fateful day both thrilled and infuriated him. The soft sound of Rhaenys moving the tiles across the pai sho board mingled with the seemingly calm breeze of the cold morning, a good sign in Aemond’s mind. He continued to ignore her, instead focusing on his own task when he heard a sigh come from behind him.

“You should rest, Aemond. Come, play a round with me,” she spoke in her usual soothing tone, no malice like he had been used to back home. The sound of another tile being moved into place then a contemplative hum filled the air as she waited for a response.

Aemond turned to face her, a scowl on his face as he glared at her. “No, I must keep looking. I do not have time for games, Aunt. We are in the right place, I am sure of it,” he ground out, turning back to the telescope and training his good eye back on the shoreline. Luck appeared to be on his side when he saw what could only be described as a fiery explosion and at the center of the scene, an indistinguishable figure that he could only assume belongs to the one person he has been hunting. A little further along the snowy landscape, he caught sight of a small village. “See there! On the ice there was someone firebending. There is only one explanation, Aunt. We have found the Avatar and their hiding place.”

A heavy sigh and another soft tap of a tile before Rhaenys clicked her tongue at her nephew's stubbornness. “Prince Aemond, we have been down this road before. I do not want you to get excited over nothing.”

“This time is different, I can feel it. Set a course for that village!” Aemond excitedly responded, feeling closer to the end of a long road than he had in a long time.

Upon my return to the village, I learned that the ship had already docked and several men had already come ashore. I slipped past the ice walls and stayed hidden behind a few of the tents, watching as my kin were rounded up and interrogated by a tall and imposing figure. He wore a standard Fire Nation uniform, but it was the way he carried himself that stood out the most to me. His long white hair was pulled back neatly and he wore an eyepatch over his left eye, the edges of a deep scar peeking out and marring his handsome face. I knew in an instant he was a member of the royal family, but I didn’t know his name. Dread started to settle in my chest as the realization that I have been discovered started to become my reality. I was pulled from my short lived self-loathing when I heard the wizened voice of my mentor bark back a retort to the foreign prince.

”Haven’t you taken enough from us already? Or does your greed know no bounds?” Hama asked, the anger in her voice strong despite her frail appearance.

The man simply stared at her, not moved by her words as he asked his question again. “Where is the Avatar? I know they are here, I spotted them along the shore. You will tell me where they are.”

The silence that followed must have irked the man, because he grabbed Hama by her parka before summoning a flame to his free hand. “Tell me now or she suffers for it!” he shouted, his jaw clenching when he received no verbal response.

Instead, the few warriors that remained sprung into action to distract the four other men that had come ashore. That split second was enough for the Fire Prince to loosen his hold of Hama before she too went on the defensive, knocking her captor to the ground with a smooth roll of her arm, the water whip snapping against his chest. The remaining women and children quickly made for safety while I jumped out from my hiding place, pulling water from the snow to send one enemy to the ground to buy time for my neighbors to hide. I quickly turned to see the prince get up and engage in a one on one battle with Hama, my mentor deflecting each of his attacks. He was quicker and more agile, but she was more experienced and had an environmental advantage. I wanted to come to her aid, but the subtle shake of her head as she kept his focus on her was enough to stay my hand. Instead, I focused on aiding the warriors of the village, keeping the fighting from advancing too far from the shore.

After a seemingly quick battle, only Hama and the strange bender were left. They were both breathing heavily as they pushed and pulled with one another. In his rage, he lashed out and Hama went flying back, her body crumpling into a heap on the ground. I quickly jumped into the fray with a shout, taking him by surprise as the rage began to simmer beneath the surface of my skin. The air was thick with tension as we stared at each other, my eyes locked onto his one blue one. My lips were pulled back into a snarl as I bared my teeth, my body poised to strike. He regarded me slowly, a flicker of recognition passing over his face as he dropped into a fighting stance.

Aemond stared at the young woman in front of him, her hair coming undone from its style and her breathing even despite the fighting against some of my best men. She was beautiful, from the stone cold focus in her eyes to the aggressive look on her face. For a moment, he was taken aback before realizing she looked a lot like the figure he saw earlier. The thought that he was actually standing face to face with the Avatar, the very person he was hunting and discovering they were a woman caused something to stir within him. He quickly squashed those feelings, knowing that she was the key to his future and he couldn’t afford to lose focus now that she was within reach.

”So, you are the Avatar? I thought you’d be…” he started to say, but a low growl escaped her throat and suddenly he was having to dodge shards of ice leveled at his head. With a bob and a weave, he evaded and went on the defensive as he started going through the motions. It was easy enough to get angry, memories of his final moments home and now the conflicting emotions swirling within him giving him an edge in the fight. Water and fire clashed as the two circled each other, Aemond’s steps harsher and heavier compared to the Avatar’s more fluid form.

The fight carried on for several more minutes, neither gaining ground on the other until the old woman joined the fight again. The two women moved in sync, backing Aemond towards the warship with offset attacks, not letting him get so much as a breath in. The loss of ground and the possibility of missing out on this opportunity set him off and he roared, throwing out his arms as the flames rolled across the ground, knocking both his opponents to the ground. There was a sickening crunch and he heard the Avatar cry out causing him to look up to see what had happened. The older woman was on the snow, her neck bent at an unusual angle and eyes lifeless as she lay there. The silence as the village gathered around, the Avatar holding the limp body of the woman he determined was her mentor. Soft sobs and incoherent words fell from her lips, the pitiful sounds breaking Aemond’s heart.

He stepped forward, the snow crunching underfoot alerting the grieving woman to his approach. She snapped her head up, tears streaming down her face and grief heavy in her eyes. A brief moment passed before she gently set the dead woman down and rose from her kneeling position, her gaze never leaving his. He was only barely aware of his Aunt on the deck of the ship, several more of his men standing on the gangplank and waiting for further instruction. That’s when the gleam in her eyes registered in his hazy mind and he felt fear for the first time in a long time.

One moment, Hama and I are beating back this aggressive man and the next, she’s gone. An overflow of emotions came over me; sorrow, grief, but most of all, rage. The sound of his footsteps was enough to send me over, the feeling of all my past lives suddenly came rushing to the forefront of my mind and I felt nearly invincible in that moment. One thrust of an arm and all the Fire Nation soldiers were sent flying back into the belly of the ship with the invisible force of a strong breeze. Another upwards punch and a solid step forward, the metal made a loud clanging sound as the ship suddenly closed with everyone on board. A twirl in place and strong push, the water and wind carried the ship away from my home with the force of a polar vortex and swept them all out into the glacier ridden sea.

I felt the immense power leave me before the world went black, the feeling of being caught before I hit the ground, the last thing my overworked mind registered before I passed out.

Drop me an ask if you want to be added to/removed from the tag list for this series!

Taglist: @valeskafics, @gemini-mama, @alexagirlie, @julessworldd, @mrsarnasdelicious, @whitedarkmoonflower, @officerbrowneyes, @xoxo-tala

#hotd #tlk #ATLA au #foxys fics #aemond targaryen #aemond x reader #sihtric kjartansson #sihtric x reader

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saber-monet · 3 months

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water

Earth

Fire

air

long ago the 4 nations lived together in harmony....

Then Everything changed when the fire nation attacked!

Only the avatar, master of all four elements could stop them

but when the world needed her most.. she vanished

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aethersea · 4 months

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📓!

There’s an atla au of star wars that I have tried so hard to bend into a shape that I can actually write, but alas, all I have are ideas. This is the one that’s in the wips folder as Everything Changed when the Clones Attacked, which is ironic bc I cannot for the life of me figure out what to do with the clones. Maybe they’re being brainwashed at Lake Laogai? Or something???

Anyway. The story has two parts, prequels and sequels. Details under the cut, because this got a bit long.

In the prequels, the elderly Master Yoda of the airbenders is Avatar, and in his old age he’s stopped traveling the world and instead dispenses his wisdom from one of the great Air Nomad temples, nestled deep in the mountains where only Air Nomads can reach. He’s unofficial leader of the council of Air Nomad elders, which is….not great, really, not how things should be, but it’s mostly been okay. He’s been a good avatar overall, and it’s only in later years that he’s leaned so heavily toward the Air Nomads, and really none of this is enough to push the four peoples truly out of balance.

Our story starts with Qui-gon Jinn, an airbending master traveling with his apprentice, helping a besieged queen from a minor Earth Kingdom escape her city. (I saw a post once asserting that the Earth Kingdom is actually a collection of largely autonomous kingdoms that all loosely recognize the authority of the Earth King in Ba Sing Se, and I like that a lot, so that’s the worldbuilding I’m going with here.) Qui-gon agrees to take Queen Amidala to the Avatar’s council to beg their aid.

Along the way, they encounter a young boy living with his mother. The boy can do a bit of earthbending—and also a bit of waterbending, and a bit of airbending, and a bit of firebending. Which is impossible, because Avatar Yoda isn’t dead, but there he is, bending all the elements anyway.

I don’t think there’s slavery in the atla universe, but we could probably get away with indentured servitude of some kind, and Qui-gon acquires Ani in much the same way as he does in canon. He takes him to Avatar Yoda—and Yoda rejects him. Says, essentially, “This is weird as hell but it’s also not my problem.” (Frankly I can’t come up with an actual good reason for Yoda to do that, but just go with me here.) So Qui-gon angrily responds that if the Avatar won’t take responsibility, he will, and then gets himself enmeshed in Amidala’s political problems to boot.

And then he dies.

Something something evil emperor, yadda yadda you know the drill. (Though I think the empire isn’t going to be the Fire Nation, despite the thematic appropriateness of fire spreading unchecked to consume all in its path. Palpatine is gonna usurp the Earth King, I think, and I do feel the prequels’ themes around entrenched systems with deep flaws, which are too big to fight as individuals and too implacable to change, will fit well with atla themes around earth.)

The sequels portion of things is even less plotted out. All I know is that Luke grows up in the same nameless patch of Earth territory his father grew up in, and he doesn’t actually discover he can waterbend until he’s practically an adult. It’s a shock to everyone—except, somehow, weird Old Ben who lives in the desert, who tells him that the next Avatar is supposed to be a waterbender, and won’t explain why he’s so convinced Luke is that Avatar given that he’s pretty emphatically not from the Water Tribes.

Luke is finally convinced when he manages to airbend, under Old Ben’s suspiciously skilled tutelage. He can’t pull off any other elements, though, so they go off on a road trip to that swamp where you see spirits, to try to reach the past Avatars and get some guidance.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to both of them, Leia has grown up knowing she can firebend. This is kind of an alarming skill for the princess of an Earth Kingdom to have, and even more alarming given that she’s already an earthbender. So she’s kept it secret, and no one but her parents has ever known.

They can meet in some way analogous to the Death Star raid in A New Hope, idk I have zero plot in mind here. The point, as far as I’m concerned, is that the Skywalkers have fundamentally broken the Avatar cycle. Anakin shouldn’t exist, and yet he does, and he was born while Yoda was still alive. If he hadn’t existed, the next Avatar would be a waterbender, and that’s Luke—except he’s from the Earth Kingdom. If Anakin is a true Avatar, then the next one would be an earthbender, and that’s Leia—only then she shouldn’t have been born until after Anakin’s death. Nothing makes sense! Even Yoda and all the other past Avatars together have no goddamn clue what is going on!

Imagine their consternation when they discover that neither Luke nor Leia is the Avatar: it’s actually both of them together. Luke has air and water, Leia has earth and fire; Luke can visit the spirit world and be the bridge between humans and spirits, and Leia can speak to kings and maintain the balance between the four nations. The two of them, together, can defeat their father, defeat the emperor, and restore harmony to the world.

#finx writes #finx has friends on the internet #star wars #why yes I do still have an ask from you from a long-ago wip wednesday for this fic #I stared at that google doc for SO LONG trying to come up with something I liked even a little #I just have no clue what to write! can't make the words happen!#so here instead have this

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quodekash · 6 months

Text

FINAL PART OF THE EPISODE, LETS GOOOO

I LOVE HIM 😭

this entire situation is very not good

(I forgot to write down my thoughts lmao)

oh so he's gonna suffocate him? that makes sense actually, I thought he was gonna shoot him

anyway time for the perfectly timed rescue from kangsailom

HELL YEAH SAILOM

BRO JUST PUNCHED A GROWN MAN, IM PROUD OF HIM

no come on man

why

why can't we all just be happy

why the hell did kang throw himself between the gun and the guy

(did you just throw your hand BETWEEN the hammer and the phone?)

oh okay so its just an arm wound

he'll be fine, right?

just a lil graze wound?

also because of the light it looks like theres a guy in the blood lmao

Tony stark-ass man

gUYS

I get that you wanna be all noble and stuff but can we chill a little bit

maybe duck down instead? step to the left? run out the door and grab some authorities so that you're not facing against this deranged guy alone? just some food for thought

YES

HELL YES

oh wait no

oh no now he's gonna go to jail for gun possession

crap

OH WAIT BUT SAIFAH'S ALSO IN JAIL

THEY CAN BE JAIL BOYFRIENDS

we've got bathroom boyfriends (soundwin/guynawa), rooftop boyfriends (patpran and arguably guynawa too), pool boyfriends (tinngun) and now we can have jail boyfriends!

the four elements. bathroom, rooftop, jail, pool.

long ago the four nations lived together in harmony. then, everything changed when the jail nation attacked. only the avatar, master of all four boyfriends, could stop them. but when the world needed him most, he vanished.

a hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new avatar, a poolbender named palm. and although his poolbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. but I believe palm can save the world!

(I can't quite remember but I'm pretty sure palmnueng managed all four of those at some point. they definitely got beat up in a bathroom at some point or something like that, there was that pool scene from the very start of the series, they're kind of technically on the run from the police and stuff like the entire time which is close enough to jail, and they end up on the roof of that one building quite a few times. so yeah, I guess palmnueng are the ultimate boyfriends)

OH CRAP THATS RIGHT I WAS WATCHING THE EPISODE

obviously like, empathy, this completely sucks and they're absolutely gonna convict name because it'll be in some record somewhere that he worked for whatshisface, so theyll decide that name was either trying to take down his boss so he could have the power, or that he was still working for his boss but mis-aimed and was actually trying to shoot kang and sailom

but also... jail boyfriends

thats it? that's freaking it?

okay then bro, jeez

that was truly something

OHMYOHMYOHMYOHMYOHMY

GUI34ERIHSGDJOIPE4JRPIOSJGHJO4B3EHIRSDGHIRBEVHDFGHVE4RD

GO48ERIDHGJIVOUERUODGOHVE0IROUHSD0UGHOUIVO0ERHOUD0UHOUG0UVHOGEWHR80DSUHGUOV0U9EHRU-SHDG9U-VHE9U-RHIDS0Y9G9Y-UVWEHPIS-9UDGHP-UV9PEWUS9DPH-GUVPH 9-UEHSD9JGIHPVJ9EIHR9SDIG90JVIE

IM NOT BEING DELUSIONAL IT ACTUALLY IS COMING

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AND IT'S INITIATED BY GUY????

AAAAA THIS IS AMAZING

I so hope they kiss twice there, that would be awesome, then I could put the patpran rooftop kiss soundtrack behind it like I did with soundwin

GUIERJDKFBGNOVIERLNDGOVJD NEXT WEEK IS THE FINAL EPISODE WHICH WILL BE EMOTIONAL AND ITLL ALSO BE A GRADUATION EPISODE WHICH WILL BE EVEN MORE EMOTIONAL, B U T GUYNAWA ARE FINALLY GONNA KISS SO THE PAIN WILL BE WORTH IT HOLY FRICK

I HAVE TO WAIT A WEEK NOW???? A WHOLE-ASS WEEK???? GEORJDSKGB HOW

#quodekash disregards sleep because of dangerous romance #dangerous romance #dangerous romance series #dangerous romance the series #guynawa #nawaguy #kangsailom #kanghansailom #marcwin #marcpawin #marc pahun #win pawin #pawin kulkaranyawich #perthchimon #chimon wachirawit #perth tanapon #HEEEEEEEELP

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princess-of-the-corner · 3 months

Note

Okay so, I decided to write out an entire "first episode opening sequence narration" for the first chapter:

“Water.

“Earth.

“Fire.

“Air.

“Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony.

“Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

“Only Avatar Roku, the master of all four elements, could stop them.

“But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

“Knowing that a new Avatar would arise from the Air Nomads, my grandfather, Firelord Sozin, wiped them all out.

“He appeared to succeed, as a new Avatar was born to the Southern Water Tribe. She mastered both Waterbending, and Earthbending, and even found someone to teach her Firebending, only to be betrayed by her master, and slain by Firelord Sozin.

“The next Avatar came from the Earth Kingdom, and my grandfather perished before he could be found.

“When he attempted to go after the Firelord, however, he shared in the same fate as his predecessors.

“The last Avatar anyone remembers was born here in the Fire Nation. As soon as he discovered who he was, he swore loyalty to my father, Fire Lord Azulon.

“My father, fearing it was a trick, had the Avatar drowned.

“With no Airbenders left, there was, tragically, nobody left to oppose my Nation’s conquest of the world.

“The sun never sets on our empire, and it only cost our nation it’s soul.

“My brother, Fire Lord Ozai, now rules the Fire Nation with an iron fist, and seeks to cast the whole world into his own shadow. I have been working to subvert his ambitions in secret, and have tried my best to lead his son, the Crown Prince Zuko, to the light. It is too late for me to redeem our Nation, but he may be able to save the Fire Nation’s soul.

“I fear, however, that I may have sealed my nephew’s fate.

“If the Avatar does not arise soon, there may be no hope for my nephew, or the world as a whole.”

What do you think?

OH!!

Letting Iroh Narrate is a power move actually!

And hell yeah hell yeah hell yeah

#avatar!ty lee au

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empressofthesunwriter · 14 days

Text

Yin and Yang

Balance is a key aspect in the world, so why shouldn’t the Avatar have an opposite?

In a world where Raava and Vaatu merge with humans, the Avatar and the Daimon try to keep the peace between the four nations.

Aang and Hua are the current incarnations, but wake up 100 years in the future.

How will these two learn all four elements in one year and defeat the Fire Lord?

Book 1.03: The Southern Air Temple

Water.

Earth.

Fire.

Air.

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony.

Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar and Daimon, masters of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed them most, they vanished.

A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar and Daimon, an airbender named Aang and an earthbender named Hua.

And although his airbending and her earthbending skills are great they have a lot to learn before they’re ready to save anyone.

But I believe Aang and Hua can save the world.

A few days had passed since Aang and Hua were broken free from the iceberg, which had been their prison for 100 of years.

Together with the water tribe siblings Katara and Sokka the Avatar and Daimon had begun their journey to master all four elements to end the long war the Fire Nation had started.

The first main goal was to reach the North Pole to find a waterbend master.

However, it didn’t mean they couldn’t make some stops.

Aang and Hua had been gone from the world for so long, anything had changed, they needed to see and learn how to move in this new world.

Also, they had important things to check.

So their first stop was the Southern Air Temple, Aang's birthplace, to look for other airbenders and maybe find out what had happened.

The quartetett one flying bison and a Kyuubi had camped yesterday on this tiny piece of island and were making anything ready for their journey to their destination for today.

Hua had a bad feeling in her stomach, as she helped Katara put their luggage in Appa's saddle.

She remembered with clarity how Gran-Gran, Katara and Sokka's grandma, had told them how no one had seen airbenders for 100 years.

She knew it was nearly impossible to meet up again with old friends and mentors, like Monk Gyatso, they were for sure dead, but Kanna's information and its implication, worried Hua.

Deep down she had a feeling if airbenders were still around, they wouldn’t be open about it and the other possibility…how Aang and her (even if she was only a quarter airbender) were the only airbenders left gave her a bitter taste in her mouth.

Other than Aang who was so sure to find his old home full of living airbenders, Hua had a strong feeling they would only find one thing there.

Death.

The black-haired girl shuddered.

It felt like yesterday as Monk Gyatso explained to her some only Daimon-related quirks.

Her Daimon spirit was born out of chaos and darkness, it meant she had a kind of radar for darker things more than Aang as Avatar, who flourished in order and light.

Destruction, pain, and even death gave her a thrill but also made her feel sick.

When she heard how no airbender had been seen for 100 years, a voice inside her said: they are dead.

Call it instinct or her weird Daimon Darkness-Radar, she knew it was true.

Hua had tried to warn Aang, to not get his hopes up, but sadly he didn’t listen to her.

He was too optimistic.

Typical Avatar.

“Wait 'til you see it, Katara!”, Hua heard Aang talk, returning her from her dark thoughts. “The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!”

“Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home.”, reminds him Katara cautiously.

The waterbender looked at Hua, who gave her a tiny nod.

Other than her counterpart, Hua didn't get her hopes up.

"That's why I'm so excited!", told Aang giddy.

"It's just that ... a lot can change in all that time."

"Katara is right Aang.", agreed Hua. "I have a really bad feeling about this. You shouldn't get your hopes up."

This made Aang roll his eyes and jump down from Appa's head.

"You and your bad feelings. You need to be more optimistic.", tutted Aang, which angered the Daimon.

She was not a little child!

"It would help you to be more realistic, Mr. Avatar. You can't live with your head in the clouds all the time!"

"I'm an airbender, it's in my nature."

"Yeah, that's your excuse for anything!"

"Children!", got Katara between them.

She had a tired and annoyed look on her face.

No wonder, since she and Sokka joined them, she had to stop the Avatar and Daimon regular from arguing.

"Not this early in the morning, please."

"Sorry, Katara.", they chorused together.

How synchronic they could be, when they didn't want to smash heads with each other, would astonish Katara forever.

Since neither Aang nor Hua wanted to give Katara any grief, they decided to drop the matter, for now.

Hua called for Jaiyi, who had been playing with the waves.

While her Kyuubi joined her and Katara on the saddle, Aang got Sokka out of his sleeping back, pretending there was a prickle snake in it.

They were ready now!

***

Serenly Appa was flying through the Patola Mountain range.

It's a great day for flying, musses Hua, as she sits beside Sokka and Katara on Appa's saddle, having Jaiyi in her lap.

Her nine-tails currently getting pats from her and Katara, as Sokka's stomach growls loudly.

The three females look at him in a deadpan.

Really?

He was hungry again?

They had breakfast about an hour and a half ago.

How was this possible?

"Hey, stomach? Be quiet, all right? I'm trying to find us some food.", grips Sokka with one hand his growling stomach and with the other reaches for their food bag.

His tongue out of his mouth full of anticipation, as he starts to go through it.

He looks surprised for a moment, but quickly turns the bag upside down to pour the contents into his hand.

Only a few crumbs land on his glove.

"Hey!", the water tribe warrior shouts, pointing an accusing finger in the direction of his companions. " Who ate all of my blubbered seal jerky?!"

"Oh. That was food? I used it to start the campfire last night. Sorry.", tells him Aang happily.

Hua makes a facepalm, Jaiyi just deadpans more and Katara can only shake her head.

Meanwhile Sokka nearly cries and whines about why the flames smelled so good last night.

"The Patola Mountain range! We're almost there!", announces Aang with excitement.

Katara and Hua look at each other, silently agreeing and they crawl towards Aang.

"Aang, we need to talk.", begins Hua.

"About what?"

"About the airbenders."

"What about 'em?"

"Well, we just want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless.", tells him Katara. Sadly her hand goes to her chocker. "They killed my mother, and they could have done the same to your people."

In compassion the earthbender wraps an arm around Katara's shoulder, giving her a squeeze.

The older girl had told her this a few days ago, when they had bathed in a hot spring together, enjoying some time away from the males. Both had cried together for their dead family and comforted the other.

Still, Hua would always comfort Katara when she needed to, like Katara did with her.

However, this does not have the wished effect on Aang, because he just cheerfully says how the airbender probably escaped and how you can reach only one of the temples with a flying bison and he doubts the Fire Nation had.

So no worries.

For that Hua flicks the back of his head.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

"You are an unsensible brat, you know that?", hisses Hua. "Katara tells you her mother was killed and not even some condolences from you! What a great friend you are."

This makes Aang blush in embarrassment.

"Katara I-"

"Aang, Hua, it's okay, don't start to argue again, alright?"

"But-?"

Suddenly Jaiyi lets out a warning yip, as Appa starts to climb higher and higher the mountain. The only one who isn't screaming in surprise and tightly holding onto the saddle is Aang since he sits on Appa's head and holds the reins tightly.

After a few seconds, they break the cloud and there is it...the Southern Air Temple in its glory.

"Aang, it's amazing!", shouts Katara.

"Ha, I forgot the bumpy ride, but for this visual it's all worth it!", musses Hua, still holding Jaiyi tightly to her chest, as the nine-tails make an agreening sound.

"We're home, buddy! We're home.", says Aang with happy tears in his eyes to Appa.

A while later Appa lands them on one of the landing platforms of the temple and the humans with Jaiyi make their way towards it.

Of course, Aang was in the lead, Hua and Jaiyi behind him, making Katara and Sokka take up the rear.

With only a half ear Hua hears how Sokka wants food and Katara scolds him for it, reminding him how they are the first outsiders at the temple.

Since they touched down, the Daimon feels sick to the stomach.

It's like she can taste the decay in the air.

Hearing screams of pain and plaids of mercy.

This is a graveyard and nothing more.

How she feels bad to think this about the temple.

Her point is only proven when Aang tells the others where he played airball with his friends, where the bison slept and trails off to admit how everything changed and only weed is remaining.

They quickly approach Aang.

To lift his spirits Sokka plays with him airball and gets absulty demolished.

At least the Avatar is again in a good mood.

But poor Sokka who landed hard in the snow.

Hua has Jaiyi in her arms, looking at how Aang lets the airball twirl in his hands, wondering when she will be apply to do this, as Katara calls for them.

The younger ones walk towards them, only to see how Katara buries Sokka with snow.

"What's up?", ask Hua confused.

"Uh ... Just a new waterbending move I learned."

"Nice one! But enough practising.", exclaims Aang. "We have a whole temple to see!"

The airbender walks away and Hua follows after a second.

She has a feeling about what Katara and Sokka found and wants them to see, Hua tastes and feels it in the air, but maybe, just for a few minutes more, she can lie to herself.

Even if it was for a short time, the Southern Air Temple had been her home, it's already breaking her heart to see it so empty.

Hah, she is such a hypocrite!

Telling Aang he needs to face the truth when she is here trying to ignore it.

Jaiyi licks her cheek, trying to lift her spirits. In thanks, she gives her a kiss on the head.

For a few more minutes she will be just a girl, who returns home, then she will face the truth, she promises herself.

They reach the courtyard where Monk Gyatso statue stands.

"Hey guys!", Aang calls back to the water tribe siblings. "I want you to meet somebody!"

"Who's that?", asked Sokka.

"Monk Gyatso.", answers Hua, a tear slipping down her eye. "When I was brought to the Southern Air Temple he became my guardian. He was already Aang teacher and mentor, so I was his charge also."

"He was also the greatest airbender in the world and taught me anything I know.", adds Aang.

Together Aang and Hua bow before the monk both loved like a father/grandfather, remembering times long ago…

***

Hua is swinging all alone on a swing in a beautiful courtyard of the Southern Air Temple. She can see some bison calves eating grass and a few flying lemurs are sitting on the tree, where the swing is tied.

Her heart is heavy, but she refuses to cry.

“Of course, you are here.”, she hears the gentle voice of Monk Gyatso behind. “You want to tell what happened, Hua?”

She turns her head to the monk, stopping her swinging.

“Aang is an idiot and nothing more. I can’t believe he is supposed to be my other half.”, she grumbles.

Monk Gyatso frowns, stepping beside her.

He pats her gently on the head.

It helps a little to feel better.

“Talk with me Hua, what happened?”

“I don't even remember anymore, we always are at each other throats for stupid things.", she admits quietly. "The Avatar and the Daimon are supposed to be a team, but Aang and I hate each other guts. It makes me feel like a failure. I'm more and more sure that the monks and the earth priests were wrong about us."

"Now, Hua, the only thing that they did wrong was telling you both your destiny and making you meet now and not at sixteen. But we can't concern ourselves with what was. We must act on what is.", Gyatso tells her calmy.

"I try, but I'm not really good at this. Will I be ever ready? Can Aang and I become friends or are we doomed to hate each other?"

"Your questions will be answered when you're old enough to enter the air temple sanctuary. Inside, you will meet someone who will guide you on your journey. Normally you would be brought to an Earth Temple Sanctuary, but the elders and our priests had to mix up anything.", was the last thing the monk huffed irritated.

A little smile forms on Hua's lips.

"I hope you are right because if not, I will bury Aang alive."

This makes both of them laugh.

"Give it time, little flower.", reassured her Gyatso. "You both were always friends in any of your lifetimes. You will find a common ground."

"Well, if you say so."

"Now, how about a hug? I can see that you need one.", smiles Gyatso grandfatherly at her.

The young girl grins and falls in the comforting embrace of the monk, who was more like a grandfather, than a teacher to her.

***

Aang and Hua are still bowing before the statue of their shared guardian, as Katara puts a hand on each of their shoulder. On the floor between them is Jaiyi, who snuggles the Avatar and Daimon to her best abilities.

"You must miss him.", says Katara in understanding to her two friends.

They confirm and start walking.

"Where are you going?"

"The air temple sanctuary.", begins Aang and Hua ends the sentence with: "There's someone we are ready to meet."

Aang and Hua enter the hallway, Jaiyi following after them.

Katara looks questioningly at Sokka, who just shrugs.

They both start walking after the Avatar and Diamon.

The round symbol of intertwined air currents, the national symbol of the Air Nomads is largely embedded in the floor, surrounded by two square shapes that form some sort of sun together.

The quartet and nine-tailed fox have reached the entrance of the air temple sanctuary.

The door supports a combination of metal-coloured pipes and three, blue, rolled-up, pipes that are similar looking and arranged like the symbol for airbending.

The large wooden door is framed by the branches of an old tree standing on the left of it and the hallway is illuminated by sunlight that falls through little, round windows.

"But Aang, Hua no one could have survived in there for a hundred years.", protested Katara sceptically.

"It's not impossible. We survived in the iceberg for that long.", reminds Aang.

"Good point."

"Whoever is in there, will help us to become a fully realized Daimon and Avatar.", explains Hua.

Eagerly Sokka steps forward, with a hungry look in his eyes.

"And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious cured meats!"

Full of anticipation and longing, Sokka charges at the door, but it will not budge and he simply smacks into it, head first.

Hua, Katara and Jaiyi try not to laugh, but tiny giggles escape them.

The water tribe warrior quickly turns around and puts his back on it, trying to push the giant door open.

When the door does not move, he sighs, slides down to the floor, disappointed, and rests against it.

"I don't suppose you have a key?", he ask towards Aang and Hua.

"The key, Sokka, is airbending.", simply states Aang.

Aang gets in position as he takes a deep breath.

He spreads his arms and thrusts them forward, sending an air current into both of the tubes on the door.

The air follows the path of the right air current as it travels through the pipe. The wind makes one of the blue curled tubes turn around.

When it does, the tube changes colors to purple and the wind blows out like a horn.

The process is repeated for the other two blue tubes as well.

When the three blue tubes have turned and become purple, the door unlocks and it slowly starts to open.

Light penetrates the dark room.

The doors sway open.

"Hello?", calls Aang into the room. Slowly stepping in. "Anyone home?"

The others follow behind him.

Inside the room there are a large amount of statues of people, lined up in a circular pattern.

It's always two statues beside each other, nearly every one of them holds hands, but there are a few who just stand beside each other.

"Statues? That's it? Where's the meat?", groans Sokka in disappointment.

"Who are all these people?", wonders Katara.

Aang and Hua look pensive at the statues around them.

"I'm not sure. But it feels like I know them somehow. ", states Aang.

The Dsimon nods.

"I have the same feeling, hey look!", she points at a female statue. "This one is an earthbender."

"That one's beside the earthbender is an airbender.", says Aang.

"And this one's a waterbender, who holds hands with a firebender. Never thought I would see that.", musses Katara before she realizes. "They're lined up in a pattern: air and earth, water and fire, earth and air, and fire and water!"

"These are the Avatar and Daimon Cycles!", shout Aang and Hua together.

"Of course. They're Avatars and Daimons. All these people are your past lives, Aang and Hua."

"Wow! There are so many!", exclaims Aang.

"They go till the highest point of the room!", notes Hua. "I wonder why some hold hands and others not."

Katara lets out a hum, then snaps her fingers.

"I bet the ones who are holding hands were couples and the ones who don't were friends."

"Huh...makes sense.", mumbled Aang, looking like he bite into a lemon.

He feels deep down that Katara is right.

He so does not like this!

Hua is right behind him making a yucky sound, stating: "I can't believe we were that often a couple! I can see maybe ten or so who were only friends."

However, both start to follow along the circle, looking at the statues.

Meanwhile Sokka of course doesn't believe this reincarnation bullshit and Katara has to make clear how every Avatar and Daimon after they die gets reincarnation in the next nation in their cycle.

Transfixed the Avatar and Diamon stand before the last two statues in the room.

A male Fire Nation Avatar holding hands with a female Water Tribe Daimon.

It's strange, but Hua has a feeling the beautiful aged elderly lady statue is calling for her.

Like she had met an old, dear friend, the presence is calm and comforting.

She hears the whisper of crashing waves, the soft and cold touch of snow ...

"Aang! Hua! Snap out of it!"

Abruptly Hua and Aang get shaken from their daze by a worried Katara.

"Huh?", both chorused intelligently.

"Who are they?", wants Katara to know.

"That's Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me."

"And she is Daimon Lixue, my predecessor."

Sokka joins them jokily stating: "Aang was a firebender? No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met."

"I think I heard about Lixue.", mubles Katara. "Just I can't remember all about her."

"She was from the Southern Water Tribe, no wonder you heard about her.", explains Hua.

"You were one of our tribesmen? Really?", say Sokka in disbelief. "Way to return back home and lead firebenders to us."

"Sokka!"

"What Katara?!"

"You know what I mean! Don't play dumb!"

Her brother just gave Katara a big grin.

The waterbender huffs, before she notices something.

"There's no writing. How do you know their names?"

Automatically the current Avatar and Daimon look at each other and shrug their shoulders.

"We just know.", they chorus.

"You two just couldn't get any weirder.", bemoans Sokka with crossed arms.

All this Avatar/Daimon mumbo-jumbo was so not his thing.

He liked a scientific explanation for the world.

The quartet and Jaiyi startle and stare with big eyes in front of them when they hear something.

They turn around.

A blue light on the floor comes in through the door. A long-eared shadow of another being that is approaching moves over it.

Hua hides with Jaiyi behind the statue of Lixue, as the others scatter to a hiding place.

She sees Sokka, who is holding his club ready for everything

The shadow is creeping closer.

"Firebender.", whisper Sokka. "Nobody makes a sound."

"You're making a sound!", grumbles Katara irritated.

For that, all shush her, even Jaiyi!

The shadow has reached the bases of the statues and reveals a small figure standing in the doorway; it chitters.

Eh, what?

Confused Hua and Jaiyi look around their statue, like Aang and Katara, while Sokka has still his club raised, but doesn't use it.

Before them sits a flying lemur.

The animal moves his large ear and blinks at them.

"Lemur!", shouts Aang excitedly.

"Dinner!", shouts Sokka hungrily.

"Don't listen to him. You're going to be my new pet."

"Not if I get him first!"

Sokka stretches his hand while he excitedly lunges himself at the animal from behind the statue.

Aang runs up at the lemur as well.

The lemur arcs his back in fright, his ears, hair and tail standing upright as the snatching hands of the boys draw closer. It startles, quickly turns around and makes a break for it.

The water tribe boy misses the animal and falls down, while Aang nimbly avoids tripping as well by using Sokka's head as a stepping stone. Quickly Sokka gets up and runs behind Aang and the lemur as they exit the sanctuary.

Now only the girls and the kyuubi remain.

Katara and Hua find each other eyes.

"Boys.", they both exclaim tired, as Jaiyi makes an agreeing sound.

"I'm not running after them.", makes Katara clear and steps to Hua and Jaiyi.

"Me neither. Shall we look around more, maybe we find something interesting."

"Sure."

So the girls and Jaiyi look around the room and the statues.

Only a few minutes pass, and as the girls and Jaiyi stand again before Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue Roku's eyes begin to shine!

"What the?!", shouts Hua surprised.

They look around the room and see how all Avatar statues light up.

"Spirits, this isn't good!"

"Hua, we need to find Aang!"

Immediately Hua lets Jaiyi down and the floor and commands: "Girl, find Aang, fast!"

The kyuubi doesn't need to be told and follow Aang's smell.

Behind her Hua and Katara follow her through the whole temple, as they see a large tornado.

"That must be Aang!", yells the Daimon.

Soon they reach the tornado that Aang has become and Sokka who is holding on to a rock.

"What happened?", yells Katra over the wind, trying to not get blown away.

"He found out firebenders killed Gyatso!", explains Sokka.

"Oh no! It's his Avatar Spirit. He must have triggered it! I'm going to try and calm him down!"

However, she can't even make a step forward as Hua's hand stops her.

"Hua, what?!"

Whatever Katara wants to say, she forgets it the moment she looks back at Hua.

The Daimon's eyes are shining in a burning orange as she speaks with a thousand voices: "Stay down. It's too dangerous. I will calm my other half."

So Hua has entered Daimon State, it was maybe better if she talked to Aang.

Sokka thinks the same and grips his sister and Jaiyi, holding them protective to his side.

"Well, do it! Before he blows us off the mountain!"

From the Daimon comes only a nod, as she makes her way over to the enraged Avatar.

With ease, she bends away the currents and flying debris.

When she reaches finally Aang she takes his hands in hers.

The Avatar looks full of anger and pain to the Daimon.

"My Yin, don't lose yourself in the pain. I know how you feel. I loved Gyatso and the other airbenders too. They became my family far from home. Your pain is mine. You are not alone. You have me, I will always be by your side!"

"Always, my Yang?", asks the Avatar also with a thousand voices in one.

"Till the last star in the universe dies out. This is our eternal promise."

"I remember."

"We have a family. Katara and Sokka are our family. The loved ones we lost, get reborn in new loved ones."

Finally, the winds calm down and the Avatar descends back to Earth. The two half embrace each other tight and kneel down on the ground.

Slowly their eyes return back to normal, however, they don't let go of each other.

Right now, only their other half can understand their pain and anguish.

The water tribe siblings and Jaiyi join them.

Katara embraces the two young children like a loving mother, while Jaiyi licks their cheeks and Sokka puts each a hand on their shoulder.

"You both are not alone, me and Sokka are your family now.", reassured Katara.

"Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to you two. Promise.", swerves Sokka.

"I'm sorry.", sniffles Aang.

"It's okay. Don't worry.", mumbles Hua back, rubbing his back in comfort.

"It wasn't your fault.", adds Katara.

"But you girls were right. And if the firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones, too. I really am the last airbender."

"Don't forget me.", reminds him Hua gently. "I'm just a quarter airbender, but it still counts."

A little wet laugh escapes Aang and he buries his head deeper into the Daimon shoulder.

For now, the storm was over.

***

They, Aang and Hua, are back again in the sanctuary, looking one last time at Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue.

Katara joins them, saying: "Everything's packed. Are you two ready to go?"

"How are Roku and Lixue supposed to help us if we can't talk to them?", wonders Aang.

"No idea.", admins Hua, picking up Jaiyi, and cuddling her to her chest.

"Maybe you'll find a way.", stays Katara optimistic.

They glance at each other when they hear something behind them.

Turning around they see the flying lemur standing on its back legs in the middle of the doorway.

The animal reaches Sokka's feet and drops the load he is carrying: a variety of fruits.

The lemur quickly dashes away as Sokka sits down and starts to stuff his face with the fruit, taking large bites of two different pieces of fruit.

Amused Hua, Jaiyi, Aang and Katara smile at Sokka.

"Looks like you made a new friend Sokka!", tell him Aang smiling.

"Can't talk! Must eat!"

The flying lemur climbs onto Aang and hides behind his head, his tail curled around Aang's neck.

Seems like someone wants to go with them.

The group makes their way back to Appa, with their new lemur friend.

Aang has a hand on Appa, while the lemur is sitting on his arm, as they look back at the Southern Air Temple in the distance.

"You, me and Appa; we're all that's left of this place. We have to stick together.", tells them Aang, before he turns to the others. "Katara, Sokka, Hua and Jaiyi say hello to the newest member of our family."

"What are you going to name him?", asked Katara curious.

Sokka is about to take another bite of the peach he is eating when the lemur jumps to him, stealing the fruit and returning to Aang.

He starts to nibble it with gusto.

Well, this gives Aang an idea for a name.

"Momo!"

Sokka still stands there, mouth open and hand in front of his mouth, ready to take a bite, however, he has no peach anymore.

The others start to laugh upon seeing Sokka's expression.

After that, they mount Appa and fly away from the Southern Air Temple.

Dusk is settling as Aang looks with Momo at how his old home become tinier and tinier.

In silence, Hua with Jaiyi joins them.

The girl pats his shoulder, giving him a little smile, which he returns.

And so the Avatar and Daimon look together at how the Southern Air Temple vanishes behind clouds.

A silent sentinel of a chapter in their lives.

#own character #ocs #ao3 writer #fanfic writing #avatar the last airbender #aang #sokka #katara #toph beifong #zuko #suki #zutara #sukki #aang x oc

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