Avatar Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Avatar Wiki


ABCLAF Logo This Kataang one-shot takes place in The Guru.



Chapter Thirty-Four: Stars[]

Up ahead, he can see the stars.

They twinkle quietly in the night sky, small, fragile, blinking.

And they point to her, to her form, struggling against the chains.

She is screaming.

She needs to be free.

He must set her free.

He must.

And still the voices sing.

Let the pure cosmic energy flow, they sing. Flow . . . flow . . . flow . . .

No.

He won't.

He won't let the songs distract him.

He has to save her.

He has to . . .

She has reminded him of his name.

Aang.

How could he have forgotten it?

He almost did.

He almost lost himself.

He was a fool.

A complete and utter fool.

But this time . . .

No.

This time it will be different.

Around him, the sphere of energy glows and spins.

Stay with us, sing the voices. Stay, and let the cosmic energy flow, and become the Avatar. Become the Avatar.

He turns away.

He inhales.

And he leaps.

In an instant, everything is changed.

All is destroyed.

The world . . .

Himself, his spirit-self, his Avatar State, the true him—no, the false him—the him that is not him—is it him?—or is he the him that is not—

It has faded.

It is too late.

It is too late.

It is too late.

No, it isn't.

Not for her.

Not for her.

He moves down the path that led him here, that almost led to his demise. The path of light and sound, of air and fire, of water and earth . . .

Though before he came carefully, aware of his sacrifice, this time he goes differently. Urgently. Needing to get to her and away from this.

The path fractures.

He falls.

He screams.

He is back in himself, sitting cross-legged on the ground . . . rather, not the ground, but great peak of the highest tower.

He stands.

He is himself.

He is free.

"Katara is in danger!" he cries. "I have to go."

And then he has turned, his feet nimbly pushing from the floor as he carries himself to the sloping roof, taking himself far, far away.

"No, Aang! By choosing attachment, you have locked the chakra!"

The guru's words are endless torrents of water that quench his inner fire, leaving only the ashes of his love.

He freezes, unable to move.

"If you leave now you won't be able to go into the Avatar State at all!"

The urgency is there, but the words are cold, ice.

His fire is gone.

He needs the Avatar State.

He needs . . .

No.

He knows what he must do.

And when the rains are over, when the clouds have parted, the still-living coals spring to life and renew his fire, his life, his love.

He shudders.

He is destroying everything.

But his love is stronger.

And he leaves.

For her.

Above, the stars quietly wink out.

See more

For the collective works of the author, go here.

Advertisement