Aang and I decide to explore our unfamiliar surroundings for a bit, traversing through the forest within the island while discussing where we could possibly be. "Maybe we're in the Spirit World?" Aang suggested.
I grab Aang's hand, feeling it and shaking my head. "Nope, I can touch and feel you, Aang. We're definitely still in the physical world."
Aang summons a gust of wind and directs it at a tree, nodding in agreement. "Yup, my bending works, we're definitely in the physical world."
"Maybe if we climb to the top of the island, we can figure out where we are," I advised, pointing to a hill just ahead. We ascend it together, following its path. It leads us to a strange, flat-rock formation, shaped like a hexagon in the centre of all the trees around it.
"It's a hexagon." Aang releases my hand, bending down and feeling the ground. "It doesn't seem like a normal rock."
"Well, there's only one way to find out if it's normal." I try earthbending it, but the ground beneath me doesn't budge one bit. "It's not made of earth."
"This is so strange," Aang sighed. "I wish we had some help right now. I wish we had Roku."
"Wait a minute," I paused, both Aang and I exchanging glances of excitement. "We do have Roku!"
We sit together, getting into our meditative stances and ignoring everything else around us, only focusing on our breaths and syncing them together as one. The darkness around us started to transform into the world before us and I felt my spirit leave my body with Aang's, both of us coming face-to-face with the spirit of Avatar Roku.
"You're right, Aang and Suzume. All the past Avatars, all their experience and wisdom, are available to you both if you two look deep inside yourselves," Roku informed.
Aang surveys his surroundings, asking the question both of us desperately needed to know. "So where are we, Roku? What is this place?"
"I," Roku paused, inspecting our surroundings himself. "don't know. But I see that both of you are lost in more ways than one right now."
"Well, Roku, we're contemplating whether or not to kill Fire Lord Ozai," I explained. I remembered what happened with you and Fire Lord Sozin and we don't want to repeat your mistake, no offence. But at the same time, to kill someone seems so," I hesitated. "wrong."
"In my life, I tried to be disciplined and show restraint, but it backfired when Fire Lord Sozin took advantage of my restraint and mercy. If I had been more decisive and acted sooner, I could have stopped Sozin and stopped the war before it started. I offer you this wisdom, Aang and Suzume, Both of you must be decisive."
Roku's spirit vanishes before us and both Aang and I exchange looks of dread, knowing most likely what had to be done.
"Well, we could always another Avatar for advice," I suggested. "And I know just who to ask." I close my eyes once more, meditating deeply with Aang. "Avatar Kyoshi, we need your wisdom."
The spirit of Avatar Kyoshi appeared before us and she begins explaining the challenge she was faced with during her era as Avatar. "In my day, Chin the Conqueror threatened to throw the world out of balance. I stopped him. And the world entered a great era of peace."
"You didn't really kill Chin. Technically, he fell to his own doom because he was too stubborn to get out of the way," Aang pointed out.
I smile sheepishly. "Well, she still technically caused what led to his death."
"Personally, I don't really see the difference, but I assure both of you, I would have done whatever it took to stop Chin. I offer you both this wisdom, Aang and Suzume, Only justice will bring peace."
Her spirit fades away from us, leaving Aang to grumble in disappointment. "I knew we shouldn't have asked Kyoshi."
"Hey! Watch it, Aang!" I scolded. "She's one of the greatest Avatars of all time and I respect her. And the advice she gave to us was great, only justice will bring peace. And Aang, justice may not necessarily mean death. You could interpret 'justice' in many ways."
"But what she most likely meant was death," Aang sighed. "We need more advice, Suzume. Maybe other Avatars would think differently."
"Hmmm." I rub my chin in thought. "What about an Avatar from the Water Tribe? We haven't had one from there yet."
"Good idea," Aang and I shut our eyes again, meditating deeply on our request until we felt the sudden shift in our surroundings, a spirit of an Avatar forming before us. Our eyes shot open and we see an Avatar wearing a traditional Northern Water Tribe outfit appear before us.
"I am Avatar Kuruk. When I was young, I was always a go-with-the-flow kind of Avatar. People seemed to work out their own problems, and there was peace and good times in the world. But then, I lost the woman I loved to Koh, the Face Stealer. It was my fault. If I had been more attentive and more active, I could've saved her. Aang and Suzume, both of you must actively shape your own destinies and the destiny of the world."
The spirit of Avatar Kuruk vanishes into thin air and both Aang and I exchange worried looks again, now knowing the inevitable had to be done. "All these past Avatars. They keep telling us that we're gonna have to do it but they just don't get it!" Aang protested.
"Maybe an Air Nomad Avatar would understand where we're coming from," I suggested.
Aang's ears perk up in interest. "That's a great idea, Suzume!"
We begin meditating deeply again until an Avatar wearing airbender robes appears in front of us, introducing herself. "I am Avatar Yangchen, young airbender and young waterbender."
Aang cuts to the chase immediately. "Avatar Yangchen, the monks always taught me that all life is sacred. Even the life of the tiniest spider-fly caught in its own web."
Avatar Yangchen nodded patiently. "Yes. All life is sacred."
"I know, I'm even a vegetarian," Aang smiled. "I've always tried to solve my problems by being quick or clever. And I've only had to use violence for necessary defence. And I've certainly never used it to take a life."
"Avatar Aang, I know that you're a gentle spirit, and the monks have taught you well, but this isn't about you. This is about the world," Avatar Yangchen reminded. "Perhaps you should listen to your fellow Avatar, Avatar Suzume. We as Avatars must do whatever that is necessary to keep the balance of the world."
"But the monks taught me that I had to detach myself from the world so my spirit could be free," Aang argued.
"Many great and wise Air Nomads have detached themselves and achieved spiritual enlightenment, but the Avatar can never do it. Because your sole duty is to the world. Here is my wisdom for both of you, Aang and Suzume, selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and your wants, both of you must do whatever it takes to protect the world."
Avatar Yangchen's spirit vanishes completely, leaving Aang and me dazed momentarily.
"I guess we really don't have a choice, Suzume," Aang conceded. "We have to kill the Fire Lord."
"I'm so sorry it had to come to this, Aang," I hug him sadly.
"Why isn't there another way we can defeat him and stop him from harming more people?" Aang buries his head in my shoulders. "Why can't there be a more peaceful way to defeat him?"
"Maybe the world wants it to end this way for him after everything he's done," I reasoned. "Wait, perhaps we could consult one more Avatar. Maybe his advice would help us."
"Who is it?" Aang's ears perk up in interest.
"The Avatar who started the Avatar cycle. The first Avatar, Avatar Wan." I release the hug, close my eyes and get into my meditative stance. Aang does the same beside me and with that, we bring our fists together. "Avatar Wan, we need your wisdom."
The spirit of Avatar Wan appears before us, grinning before us. "Avatar Aang, Avatar Suzume, it is an honour to meet you both."
We bow respectfully before Avatar Wan. "No, the honour is all ours. Avatar Wan, you were the first ever Avatar, the one who started the cycle and for the first time ever, there are now two Avatars, Aang and me, but for some reason, both of us still can't figure out how to defeat the Fire Lord in the most ethical way possible, to kill him would be against our principles. So how can we ever maintain balance in the world if we don't kill the Fire Lord? There must be some other way to defeat him. And is that through achieving balance within ourselves and between ourselves, as you mentioned?"
"Well, those are questions both of you must find the answer to yourselves. All I can tell you is this, some things may not appear as they seem."
"I'd like to ask you a question, Avatar Wan, why are there now two Avatars instead of one? Why did the Avatar Spirit choose me over everyone else?" I asked. "I was never the rightful Avatar, Aang is."
"The Avatar Spirit, Raava is a very wise being and is able to discern the qualities within a person. Raava saw what you did when you saw Aang drowning, you risked your life to save Aang's, a selfless act that made it deem you worthy to be the second Avatar. In addition to that, it saw you as someone who could balance the current Avatar, making you a great fit for the second Avatar. On the day you saved Aang, some of its spirit transferred over to you when you were in the iceberg with Aang, making you the second Avatar. You may not think of yourself as a worthy Avatar, but Raava thinks you are and she is never wrong. I also think you're worthy, never doubt in your abilities, Avatar Suzume." Wan shoots me a small smile and I return it.
"Though both of you may be young, both of you are more than capable of restoring balance and finding balance within yourselves. I was just like both of you when I was first involved in an important battle, a young boy with barely any experience in fighting. I worked together with Raava to imprison Vaatu, the dark spirit and the source of all chaos in this world. Though we were both rather weak in comparison to Vaatu at the time, we still managed to work well together, successfully imprisoning him. Thus, this is my wisdom for both of you, just as I worked together to imprison Vaatu, both of you must work together as one, providing balance to one another to defeat the Fire Lord. When both your forces are balanced, you two will be unstoppable." Avatar Wan's spirit fades away from us and we look at each other, trying to decipher the meaning of what he said.
"Wan said that some things may not appear as they seem, Aang." I knock on the hexagonal floor, gasping in realisation. "What if what we're actually standing on, isn't an island? What if it was a floating creature?"
"There's only one way to find out." Aang races up to the top of a tall tree and I follow him from behind, both of us looking out at the surroundings. Aang points at a mountain range that was not previously there before, slowly starting to enlarge somehow. "Is it just me, or are those mountains getting bigger?"
"Aang, those mountains were never there in the first place! The island, or perhaps the creature is moving towards it!" I exclaimed. "That's what Wan meant."
"Quick, we have to check what exactly we're standing on!" We race down the trees, going over to the side of the 'island' and jumping into the ocean to get a better view of the creature. We swim beneath the 'island', inspecting it and seeing a large paw emerge from it, pushing the so-called 'island' forward in the ocean.
Both of us resurface again, gasping for air. "It's amazing Suzume! The biggest animal in the world! We've gotta swim around and find its face."
I nodded, both of us submerging ourselves into the ocean and swimming around the 'island' to its front, propelling ourselves forward quickly in the water with waterbending. We stop when we reach the front, lingering around a bit to try to find the creature's face. Its eyelids suddenly open, revealing its golden eyes and startling both Aang and me. Its massive paw emerges from beneath us, lifting us back up to the surface.
"A lion turtle!" Aang and I bow before it respectfully. "Maybe you can help us. Everyone, even our own past lives, are expecting us to end someone's life. But we don't know if we can do it."
"The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. The balance of both leads to unimaginable and unstoppable power. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light and unyielding balance."
The Lion Turtle places a claw on both our foreheads and our chests, green light beginning to shine from them and from his eyes as he spoke to us, "In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements but the energy within ourselves. To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable or you will be corrupted and destroyed." A vision of people performing energybending flashed before our eyes. "In this case, both of you must bring balance to each other's spirit to achieve a state of balance. Once you both succeed in doing that, both your energies will be unbendable and you two will be able to bend anyone's energy."
The Lion Turtle slowly lifts its paw towards a small cliff, setting us both down gently. "Wait for him. He will come."
Both of us bow before him once again before the Lion Turtle submerges into the ocean again, swimming away from us. Both Aang and I exchange glances.
"So, ready to face the Fire Lord, Aang?" I asked.
"I'm ready," he smiled. "We both know what to do now."
"We'll defeat him together, Aang," I affirmed, holding onto his hand. "We'll usher in a new era of peace and prosperity into the world, a balanced and peaceful world where everyone can live happily."
"I trust you, Suzume." Aang squeezes my hand.