"What happened then, Gyatso? Was the war stopped, and the Black Lotus? What happened to Ryosuke and the others?"

"Slow down, Aang. I will give you the answers, no need to fret."

Gyatso and Aang were sitting in the Southern Air Temple. For their lesson that day, Gyatso was telling Aang a story over tea.

Gyatso refilled Aang's tea cup and his own and continued, "The war was indeed prevented. And with Avatar Sayu gone, the Black Lotus died with her, the people were able to go back to their lives without fear. But the world was still in disorder and peril, and so Misa, Taro, and Li worked together to set things right. Despite their efforts though, Avatar Sayu's damage wasn't completely undone until the next avatar grew up and completed her training and brought balance back to the world."

"Wait, I thought you said Ryosuke survived," said Aang. He took a sip of tea and asked, "Why didn't he help? I mean, I know about his injury, but maybe they were wrong, maybe he did get better. He did get better, right?"

Gyatso sighed and shook his head sadly. "They didn't really save his life, they just bought him a bit more time. Because of the lightning strike, instead of dying on the battlefield, he died a slow, painful death over the course of ten years. At your age, ten years seems like a long time, but when it's all you have left…"

"I feel so bad for him. To be betrayed like that by the person he loved… I bet he never forgave Sayu for what she did."

"Well, it's a curious thing, actually. Ryosuke had to use a cane or a wheelchair for the remainder of his days. He was often ill, and he was always in pain. But when they discovered the new avatar, a little girl named Jade from the Northern Water Tribe, he insisted that they let him teach her airbending. Everyone was against it at first, as you might expect, but he argued that he was going to die anyway and that not teaching her wouldn't prolong his life. They gave in, and from his wheelchair he taught her airbending. She mastered it under his tutelage by the time she was ten years old."

"You mean he didn't resent her? How could he not be angry after something like that?" asked Aang in confusion. "I mean, I know we're supposed to try to make peace and I'm all about that, but to not even be angry?"

"Oh, I'm sure he was very angry, I never said he wasn't angry. But I suppose that instead of letting his anger consume him, he dealt with it in another way. Not many could let go of their anger and resentment like that, it must have been a very difficult thing for him to do."

"Maybe it was because he knew he was dying, he didn't want to waste his final days stewing in bitterness," Aang offered.

Gyatso smiled in approval. "That is what I think, as well."

"So, what was the next avatar like? Did they keep a close eye on her to make sure she didn't snap, too?"

"They kept their eye on her, but not too much. They didn't really need to, Avatar Jade was made well aware of what her predecessor had done, and she did everything in her power to make sure she never repeated her actions. From what I've read, she was perhaps too hard on herself, but in her time as avatar, there were no wars."

"I can't believe that I was once Sayu." Aang had been told just a few days ago that he was the avatar, he was still trying to take it in and accept it. "But I don't understand, I thought the avatar was supposed to be the embodiment of everything good, I thought the avatar always strove for peace and balance, how could Sayu go so wrong?"

"It is folly to assume that the avatar is incapable of doing wrong," said Gyatso as he finished his second cup of tea. "Not all airbenders desire peace, just as not all firebenders desire power. The story I have just told you took place centuries ago, and it is one that is almost never told. Do you know why?"

Aang shook his head no.

"It is because most people don't want to accept the fact that the avatar can make mistakes, and can even choose to harm the world instead of protect it. It's frightening to know that the person who is supposed to keep you safe could very well kill you. But Avatar Sayu's story is very important, because of that very reason. She twisted everything the Air Nomads and the avatar stands for, she let it drive her to insanity and it destroyed her. But as far as we know, she was the only avatar to do so.

"Aang, I know you are scared of the responsibilities you will have as the avatar. Others will look to you for wisdom and guidance, they will call your name when they need help. They will believe you could never choose the wrong path, but that isn't correct. The avatar is not inherently good, he or she must choose whether they will fight for good or evil, just like everyone else. What becomes of our lives depends not on who we are born as, but on the choices we make every day."

"I wish I wasn't the avatar, why was I chosen?" Aang asked in despair. "No one wants to be my friend anymore, and it'll be my job to keep everyone happy. If I fail, everyone will hate me and lots of people could get hurt. And now I find out that one of my past lives was a psycho, which means I could become a psycho, too!"

"I didn't tell you this story to frighten you, though it is important to take seriously. It was a mistake to tell you at such a young age that you are the avatar, but sometimes we are given burdens we are not yet ready to carry. If you can learn to carry this burden well, and I believe you can and will, it will not be quite as scary. And like I said before, whatever path you choose is up to you, not your past lives. Learn from them, but do not linger too long on their stories."

"You really think I can do this?" asked Aang hopefully.

"I taught you myself, how could you not?" Gyatso chuckled.

Aang cracked a smile, but he was still worried. He asked, "Is there any more to the story?"

"As a matter of fact, there is a little more. The story was written by Ryosuke and his friends. Some of it came straight from Sayu herself. Jade once channeled Sayu's spirit so Ryosuke could talk to her one last time, so that he might understand why she did those terrible things. Ryosuke kept most of what went on between them to himself, but what he did share was in that story. There is a little more here, written shortly before he passed away in his sleep. I'll let you read it."

Gyatso handed him the book, and Aang read the last few pages silently to himself. As he read, he felt transported into the story, he felt like he was really there with them.

Ryosuke was sitting on a beach with white sand in the Fire Nation. The ocean was calm, there were no waves that day. There weren't many people on the beach, so it was very quiet. He was sitting by the cool water, letting it run over his bare feet.

Misa, Taro, Li, and Jade had brought him here for his twenty-seventh birthday. Every birthday was a small victory now, and his friends always made sure to celebrate it as such. He knew it would be his last victory, though. His friends did as well, but they refused to admit it, as though refusing to accept it might stop it from happening.

Jade was building a sandcastle while the others had just finished swimming and were leaving the water. She had short, dark brown hair that she kept braided. She hummed while she worked, and her light blue eyes were lit up with happiness. It seemed the young girl could be happy no matter where she was, whether she was in the frigid Northern Water Tribe or in the scorching Fire Nation.

They had discovered she was the avatar when she was six years old. She had just begun learning basic waterbending forms, but they stopped her waterbending training so that she could train with him. It was unconventional for her to learn airbending first, but if Ryosuke was to teach her, his ailment prevented them from waiting. So she and her parents and her little brothers moved to the Southern Air Temple to train with him. His friends came to visit him often, and when he was healthy enough, they would take him to other parts of the world so that he wouldn't have to stagnate in one place.

After years of being her teacher, Ryosuke still wasn't entirely sure why he had insisted he should be the one to do it. Anyone else could have done the job, and they probably would have done a much better job of it. But he needed to keep busy, and teaching Jade was the only way he could deal with his feelings of anger, bitterness, and betrayal. If he didn't do it, he believed those feelings would consume him. Perhaps he needed to teach her because it reminded him of the happy times he had with Sayu when they were children. Happy times that would never be repeated, because now all he had were memories.

"Hey Jade, why don't you go challenge Taro to a volleyball match?" Ryosuke suggested. "He looks way too happy over there, you need to kick his butt."

"My pleasure," she said with a sly grin. The girl had recently turned ten and was very proud of it. Though Jade was still young, she was growing fast and she was already very skilled and powerful.

Jade ran to the others, and they started playing volleyball, girls versus boys. The boys seemed to be winning, and he wished he could join them, but just walking to the beach with his cane had been a struggle. He smiled as he watched his friends play. Despite the boys being ahead, the girls managed to pull through and win the game. But then they noticed that their picnic basket was floating away in the ocean. They chased after it, but it was too late. They gave up, and Jade ran over to him.

"Hey, Ryosuke!" she said cheerfully. "Our picnic basket floated away, so the others are going to get some more food for dinner. I decided to stay here and keep you company. So, what are you doing?"

"Having a blast playing catch with crabs." He took a shell and flicked it over to a small red crab, who caught it and scurried off with it. "It's very intense and requires a lot of skill, only true masters can do it."

Jade giggled and sat down beside him, letting her toes touch the water. She asked, "Why don't you join our game? We won't play too hard, come on and have fun with us."

"I'll try to talk my ticker into it, but it's pretty stubborn."

They both looked out at the water for a while. The sun wouldn't be out much longer, and its fading glow reflected beautifully on the water. They could already see the moon coming out, too impatient to wait until the sun went down.

"Avatar Sayu believed that the avatar was pointless, that nothing we do will change anything. Is that true?" Jade asked out of nowhere.

Ryosuke was caught off guard, but he answered, "It probably feels like it sometimes, but think of all the lives you'll change and make better. Even if you only save one life, doesn't that make it worth it? Sayu wasn't thinking of the individual lives she could have made better, she only saw the big picture and how bleak it can be. There will always be people who do terrible things, but there will also always be people who want to change the world for the better and help the people in it. The avatar doesn't just save lives and end wars, the avatar is a symbol of hope, and hope makes people want to help others and do what's right."

Jade nodded, then said, "I learned something new a few days ago."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Since the day they told me I'm the avatar, I've known what Avatar Sayu was like. They tell me that she tried to start a war, and a lot of people got hurt because of her. They tell me she was crazy, but after I summoned her so you could talk to her… I found out that you used to be her best friend, but not just that. You and Sayu were in love."

Ryosuke turned his eyes back toward the water. "Yes, we were. But we loved each other in different ways. I never knew what she was until it was too late, she was very good at keeping herself hidden."

"If she loved you, why did she do this to you?" she asked.

"Because I wouldn't go along with what she was doing, I was trying to get her to stop. I think she tried to kill me so that I couldn't change her mind and ruin her plans. If that's the case, then it means there was some good left in her. That's what I like to believe, anyway."

"Do you hate me because of her?" asked Jade, her eyes glistening.

"No I don't, don't ever think that. I haven't forgiven her, but I've let go of the past because I want peace. You're not Sayu, you're Jade, and so I have no reason to hate you. You're my friend, Jade, and it's been an honor to teach you."

Jade grinned and hugged him, and he hugged her back. He knew soon she would have to find a new airbending master, and the thought saddened him. At least her new master would be able to fly with her.

The others came back a minute later carrying another basket of food. Taro had his arm around Misa's waist, and if you looked closely you could see a tiny baby bump beginning to form under her dress. Ryosuke still had no idea how Taro managed to talk Misa into marrying him, but they loved each other very much and made each other happy.

Li was blushing, his whole face was beet red. Ryosuke looked and saw what caused it: a cute girl was waving at him. He'd seen her around before, trying to coax Li out of his shell. He knew she'd win him over eventually. Li looked so much healthier these days than when they had first met him, you'd never know he was once in a mental asylum. There were still days when he would go off by himself or gaze longingly at the sky, but he and Niiya were both at peace.

They ate dinner on the beach, laughing and making jokes. They had to fight the seagulls to keep them from stealing their food, and more than once they had to move their picnic away from the water.

After dark, when the moon and a few glimmering stars were out, Jade took some fireworks that they had bought earlier that day. Li set the fuse and launched them into the sky. Ryosuke watched them explode in the sky with child-like wonder, he smiled at the extraordinary lights dancing across the sky.

Ryosuke slept on the beach that night, and his friends stayed with him. Before he fell asleep, his thoughts were on Sayu, as they always were when he was trying to sleep. He pushed her face out of his thoughts and thought of Misa, Taro, Li, and Jade. He wanted to think of the good they were bringing to the world, and how it was a better place now with them keeping watch.

Ryosuke wanted to think of the flowers that grew around the air temple this time of year, how beautiful they were in the spring after the cold winter. He wanted to think of the sun on his face and the wind in his hair as he soared through the sky, it had been so long since he was able to fly.

He wanted to keep on going with his friends. He wanted to see Taro and Misa's baby, he wanted to go to Li's wedding someday, he wanted to watch Jade grow up and be happy, but he couldn't. It was bittersweet to know he would be leaving soon, but it would be a relief to leave the pain of his broken body behind.

Really though, he wanted to think of Sayu. Not Avatar Sayu, he wanted to think of his best friend Sayu, the only girl he ever loved. He wanted to remember her smile, the feeling of her lips and the soft skin of her hands. He wanted to remember how she looked when they flew together, with her hair blowing in the wind and a carefree smile on her face. He wanted to remember how she always knew how to make him laugh, and how she knew him better than anyone, even if he hadn't known her.

He was so glad to have his friends stick by him through all this, he couldn't have made it even this far without them. Some good had come from his journey with Sayu, after all. He had to remind himself of that sometimes. He often had to remind himself of the good things in his life, because there were days when the pain and the ache in his chest were almost unbearable. But with them by his side, he could bear it just a little while longer.

Aang was saddened by Ryosuke's words, but at the same time, it made him feel more content about being the avatar. He was still scared of it, he still resented it, but maybe if he had friends by his side, it wouldn't be so bad. He read the last line of the book, written by Ryosuke himself in his own words.

I'll see my friends again one day, I know I will. I'll miss them until then, but for now I wish them all the happiness in the world. If I can remember the good and forget the bad, then I can be at peace when I leave, and there's no tragedy in that.

The End

Author's Note: I wrote this fic to explore three ideas I was interested in: 1. An avatar going bad (inspired by season 2 of LOK with Unalaq joining with Vaatu to become a dark avatar, I felt there was a lot of unused potential there) 2. An Air Nomad as a villain (because we've had villains from all the other nations except there. We've sort of got one now with Zaheer) and 3. Writing a story from seemingly the hero's point of view, only to have it turn out to be the villain in the end.

I had a lot of fun exploring these ideas and seeing what I could do with them. Let me know how you think I did with it, if you like these concepts and how I wrote them.

Thank you for all the lovely reviews, and thanks for reading my very first Avatar story. I hope you enjoyed it.