Soldiers' uniforms. Firebenders.

The tent was dark and silent. Aang's thoughts came to him like a dream, one by one. All he could see were more and more uniforms, tattered and burned, and it didn't make sense, why would they be here, why would-

Something caught his eye. White. Faded. A strange sculpture, with gaping holes in the head and leaning against the wall. Almost as if...

Bones.

His breath caught. Aang froze, unable to look away. He couldn't even focus on anything else- they were scattered on the ground, broken and pale and covered in dust. Something unfamiliar made him shake, made his heart pound, made the room seem darker than it was.

This was death. It was in the air all around him, whispering and quiet, seeping into the armor and debris. And the skeleton kept staring at him, glaring without eyes, mouth hanging open in a crooked smile, like a spectre that had always been waiting, waiting, waiting for him to come home. To walk into death's lair and open his eyes for the first time. And around its neck, a medallion.

The next thought took time. The name formed in his mind, but he didn't let himself react, didn't think about what it could mean, refused to believe-

Gyatso.

The pendant stared back at him, and the familiar symbols were wrong, impossibly wrong, they shouldn't be here, the pendant belonged to Gyatso and this wasn't Gyatso, this was a dead man-

Aang fell forward, kneeling in the torn cloth and the bones. Something... cold was building up, in his head and in his chest, fast and harsh and trying to get out, and it was all he could do to hold it back. For a moment, he didn't focus on the scene before him, casting his thoughts onto the tenets of his upbringing- the monks' voices, gentle and calm, teaching him about the world, about nature, the animals, and airbending.

Bending. Suddenly he could see it, plumes of fire and smoke, shrouding over the temple and seeking out its inhabitants. And here, even in the tent, the flames had screamed through the air, closing in on an old man who hadn't even had time to stand.

He couldn't move. Closing his eyes tightly, he was vaguely aware of Sokka, talking amiably as he entered the tent. Calling his name. Recoiling in quiet shock, then placing his hand on his shoulder.

"...let's get out of here."

Get out. They had probably said it, screamed it at the intruders, then whispered it in hushed voices to one another as they tried to escape.

Words from his teachers echoed in his ears, lessons of peace and harmony, but they were growing faint. He raised his head, trying to keep his thoughts clear-

All of them.

It wasn't enough.

Not just Gyatso, all of them.

The feeling had returned, but it was stronger now- something terrible was growing, and he had to stop it-

This temple is nothing but a grave.

The truth hit him like freezing water, and suddenly he had no strength left, no reason to hold it back. It flooded him, searing hot and cold and furious, and he was rising, slowly levitating higher and higher, skin glowing with an unnatural white light. Below, maybe someone was yelling, maybe someone was running away, but it didn't matter- all that mattered was the air whirling around him, churning and twisting while it propelled him into the sky. The tent was already destroyed, but he barely noticed- now there were voices, screaming and whispering and overwhelming.

Balance. Revenge. Peace.

Katara's voice reached him.

Unity. Hate. Forgiveness.

She was calling to him, saying she understood, that she knew what it was like, that she'd lost her mother-

Kill, friends, fire, harmony, anger, home, terror-

One voice, one thought instantly cut through the rest, fueling the rage and fear and everything else, setting his mind on fire:

You are alone.

The air thrashed and convulsed with the fury of a storm, but Aang didn't care- the power was beyond him now, as if he had no part in the destruction. He was simply existing, while the wind mourned its people and howled vengeance at the earth and sky.

The Avatar howled.

"But you still have a family!"

...

The voices were still there, still fighting over each other and pounding at his mind. The Avatar heard them all.

Aang the airbender, though, listened to the small, worried voice emanating from the snow beneath him.

"Sokka and I- we're your family now!"

...

Drifting.

...

Quiet.

...

Warm.

...

Later, they would tell him that he'd slowly fallen back to earth, and the gale had died down, and the lights had faded. All he remembered, though, was being held in someone's arms.

She said something, but the ringing in his ears kept him from hearing. Slowly, painfully, his thoughts formed themselves into words: as best he could, he whispered what was now clear.

If the firebenders had come here, they'd have found the other temples as well.

Katara didn't respond.

He closed his eyes. "I really am the last airbender."

[]

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"I don't think he'd seen bones before."

Katara stared at the campfire, eyes glinting with its orange light.

With a shrug, Sokka sat down. "Or even a dead body, maybe." He tossed a few sticks into the flames, causing a small burst of embers to rise. "Think he'll be okay?"

She glanced over to a small tent, then sighed. "...I don't know."

"Will you?"

Startled, she turned back to her brother, who was wearing the faintest trace of a grin. "W-what's that supposed to mean?"

He chuckled quietly. "You seemed kinda freaked out."

"Well, yeah." She wanted to fire back that he'd been just as scared, and besides, she had still been the one to talk to Aang, but somehow it didn't seem to matter. Biting back the retort, she instead looked down. "But I think it terrified him more than us."

Sokka raised his eyebrows, and she continued. "The other time, it was when he'd fallen over the edge of the Fire Nation ship- he told me he doesn't even remember it. I think it started when he was unconscious. But today, he..."

Her voice trailed off. "He went through it all," Sokka finished quietly. He wasn't looking at her, but staring up, at the dark clouds and patches of clear night sky. "Man, I never expected- I mean- the Avatar."

Katara nodded, but didn't say anything. "And the airbenders," he said reverently, with awe in his voice, like he was speaking about a great mystery. "They're old news to us, you know? But for him, it's..."

A gentle breeze chilled the air for a second. "Katara, what if we can't help him?"

She blinked, not trusting her voice to give a clear response. "I know we want to, and I'm not gonna give up or anything, but-" Sokka let his head hang forward, covering his eyes with a hand. "If you asked me to just... forget my whole life, and let go of everybody I've ever-"

Something caught in his voice, and he paused. "I mean, he needs-" Finally, he looked up, and she could see real sorrow in his gaze. "Where do we even start?"