Avatar : Love in Danger ||HIATUS||

chapter 8 : Fire Lord Ozai.

Guru Pathik sat at the top of a shrine overlooking the rest of the Eastern Air Temple, meditating tranquilly. The full moon beautifully illuminated the black sky and the light emitting from it shone down upon the wise Guru.

"Is something wrong Chang?" the wise Guru asked calmly, somehow realizing the man was there without opening his eyes.

A man emerged from behind a rock wall and awkwardly approached Pathik. He had not meant to be seen, he was talking a walk and wished to be alone. He was a former Earth Kingdom soldier, an Earthbender as well, though he had left service after he had lost his right arm in battle.

"I was just taking a walk" Chang said uncomfortably. Chang was one of the many injured and displaced soldiers and benders who had taken refuge in the Eastern Air Temple after the war had ended. Guru Pathik had continued living at the temple to help guide and nurture the refugees.

"It is awfully late to be taking a walk my friend" Pathik responded softly. "You should get some sleep, you seem tired."

"I don't really sleep anymore" Chang informed in a matter-of-factly manner. "Not since this happened." He pointed to the armhole on the right side of his shirt sleeve.

"All injuries heal with time my friend" Pathik comforted. "But I do not think that is what you mean."

"...It isn't" Chang hesitantly admitted. He had not spoken of the horrors of the war to anyone, but something about the strange Guru's kind, understanding nature caused the instinctive locks to open. "It's the nightmares. Every soldier has them, anyone who has witnessed war."

"Yes" Pathik said, nodding his head but with his eyes remaining shut. "Though not every soldier's nightmares are the same; tell me, what are your personal struggles?"

Chang shook his head, and whispered "It's too horrible Pathik."

"Tell me" Pathik offered gently. "Sometimes just talking about something makes the pain of it a little less intense."

Chang bowed his head. The desire to release his pain was too great. Finally he submitted and told, "When this happened. (He again pointed to what remained of his arm) My parents' house was being burned down with them and my sister inside of it. By the time that Firebender was finished with my arm, I couldn't do anything to help them. It was so scorched up that when it was over they had to chop it. It was like having a dead snake attached to my shoulder. If I didn't let that happen my family might still be alive."

Guru Pathik finally opened his eyes. "You have indeed endured great pain my friend" he said as

he felt the condition of his chi. "But all wounds heal in time."

"I don't care about my arm" Chang said decrepitly. "The pain of having it burned off was nothing compared to losing my family."

"That is what I meant" Pathik explained patiently, seeing as he obviously didn't expect Chang's arm to grow back. "The grief of your loss has indeed upset your inner heart. Your Air Chakra is blocked; your grief is stopping your chi from flowing freely, but one day love will again find its way to you and reopen it."

That morning, on a balcony at the Southern Air Temple overlooking the mountain range two boys were tossing a toy to one another that belonged to a smaller, younger boy who stood in the middle of them as he jumped up to try and reach it.

"Give it back! Give it back! Give it back!" the little boy pleaded as his tormentors laughed cruelly. "Try and make us!" one of the bullies shouted mockingly.

Just then the guardian of the temple Jeong Jeong appeared among the three children. The Earth Kingdom children stood frozen in fear of the Firebending master. Though they were young, the instinctive fear of Firebenders had been instilled in them by their families with terrifying, nightmarish tales of them burning villages to the ground and slaughtering hundreds of innocents. Though the soldiers who had guided them from their razed homes had ensured them that the old Firebender in charge of protecting the temple was kind and not like the Firebenders who had invaded their land, few of the refugees had an easy time believing that claim, though few refused to go on this ground, seeing as they had no other home or place of sanctuary.