I'm so sorry I've been virtually nonexistent on this site... I've been busy, and working on other stories. SORRY!!! But I would just like to share this story with you, because I'm very proud of it myself, and I hope you all will like it...

IMO, the Avatar finale was not good at all. Please don't flame me for that, it's just my own opinion, and I respect the opinions of those who loved the finale. That's great, I'm really happy for you, honest. :) But the finale just did not cut it for me, and not because Zutara didn't happen, either, so don't EVEN give me crap about that, because it's not true. So anyway, for myself to soothe my own unmet desires, and for those of you who felt the same about the finale as I did, I wrote this. Enjoy, and PLEASE REVIEW!!! And don't flame either, please. It's not nice. :)

Sozin's Comet My Way

Part 1

The Phoenix King

Streams of sizzling fire tore across the sky, painting streaks of orange energy over the blue. The Avatar's friends watched in awe. All except for one.

"You're still holding back," Zuko declared from his place near the front porch of his father's summer home.

Katara glanced at him incredulously from her seat on the steps. "What are you talking about?" she demanded, gesturing to the last airbender. Aang did a jump, flipped in the air, and landed in a blaze of fire, seemingly proving her point. "Aang's doing great. His form is perfect after all I've seen you teach him."

"His form is good, but the energy behind his attack is still too weak," Zuko pointed out calmly. "He's afraid of the fire that he should be controlling. If he isn't a complete master of his own fire, it will escape him. He'll lose control."

Katara opened her mouth to protest, but found she had nothing to say against the firebender. Sadly, Zuko knew his own element far too intimately. The scar on his face proved that. She couldn't argue with him on his own ground.

Defeated, the waterbender looked away, crossing her arms, and mumbled, "If you say so."

"I do," the traitor prince answered, cracking a smile at last, however smug it may have been. His gaze flicked to Katara for the smallest second, and the smile changed. It was over so fast, Katara thought she hadn't noticed it.

"Excuse me!" Aang called from his spot on the sandy walkway in front of the house, "Sifu Hotman?!"

Katara let out an exaggerated laugh at the flush that swept over Zuko's face. Toph snickered.

"Now, now, Sparky, he means that in the best possible way."

Zuko took a long, deep breath, letting it out in a loud sigh that made the entire gang see a little steam. His voice remained calm to the little earthbender's surprise when he answered his pupil, "Yes… Aang."

Aang scratched the back of his neck. "Um, can I have a break? I've been training for a couple hours now and it's getting pretty hot ou-"

"No."

Aang's spine slumped noticeably. "But I-"

"You still have a lot to learn," Zuko interrupted, his voice deathly serious. "Sozin's Comet is coming in four days, and your firebending still needs a lot of work. And you still need to learn how to redirect lightning."

"Yeah," Toph agreed, crossing her hands behind her head and rest against the stairs, "and I still have to give you a lesson in metalbending and sandbending."

Suki, who had been comfortably cradled in Sokka's arms, felt herself jerk to the side as Sokka jumped up. "Sandbending?! That's great! We could have a beach party!"

Zuko glowered at the Watertribe warrior, his stare cold despite the warmth of his element. "Didn't you hear what I just said? Aang has a lot of firebending to learn! He can't waste his time playing around!"

"It wouldn't be a waste," Sokka argued. "Aang could learn some good sandbending, I could spend time with Suki, Katara could play with her water, and frankly Zuko, it would be a good opportunity for you to loosen up a little bit. There, everyone wins!"

"I don't need to loosen up! You need to straighten up!" Zuko's eyes darkened with his tone. No one dared mistake the gravity of his words. "No doubt the Firelord will strike the Earth Kingdom's remaining free states and bring them down, and once the Earth Kingdom has fallen, then what's left? The Watertribes may be strong, but even they won't hold against this new power." Sokka and Katara fell deathly still, memories of the raids flashing through their minds. Zuko saw his point getting across. "Sozin's Comet is almost here, and if Aang doesn't defeat my father before then, we can all kiss the world and everything on it goodbye."

No one spoke. Zuko turned back to Aang, his face stone hard. "Now keep going. And stop playing around. Fight to kill."

The boy's gray eyes widened. "Kill?!" cried several voices at once. Zuko looked around the circle of paled faces, shocked. Only Toph seemed to agree with his words.

"I thought that's what the Avatar's goal has been all along!" Zuko exclaimed, convinced that it couldn't be done any other way. "Kill the Firelord and end the war? Isn't that what you've been trying to do, Aang?" he added, setting his steely gaze on the boy, who suddenly looked a lot smaller and weaker than he had a few moments ago.

"I… well, I knew I would have to face the Firelord," the airbender stuttered, "but… I always thought I could stop him a different way-"

"What other way?!" Zuko stepped forward. "If my father is dethroned, it won't matter. He'll raise another army anyway, with bribes and fear alone. As long as Ozai is allowed to live, he can still cause destruction and pain in the world, and this war will never end!"

Katara stood behind him. "But there has to be another way," she insisted. "Aang isn't ready to fight with that kind of ferocity. You said so yoursel-"

"That kind of ferocity?!" Zuko practically screamed. His finger made a fist so tight his knuckles turned white, and he pointed painfully at his scar, though no one could look at it. "You think this was an accident?! You think I was playing with fire and got burned?! My father gave this to me!"

Katara gasped and her eyes went wide. Suki clamped her hand over her mouth to hide her cry, and Sokka's grip tightened on her as his mouth went slack. Aang just looked away, and Toph shook her head, her blind eyes squeezed shut.

Zuko continued, "And who knows what he's done to my mother! Do any of you know what Ozai does to his prisoners of war? I know! He puts them on the front lines, unarmed, disguised as Fire Nation soldiers! That ENTERTAINS him!"

The rest of the group stared at the ground in silence, and Zuko let his voice lower. It went hoarse, but he didn't notice. "You say the Avatar isn't ready to kill Ozai?" he asked, his tawny eyes drilling into Katara, but she refused to meet his gaze. Her eyes exposed the pain she was feeling. "You say he's not ready for that kind of ferocity? Well Ozai is. If Aang works hard enough, he can do it. He has to. He will."

"Zuko's right," Toph spoke up, her voice quiet and serious. "Aang is thinking like an airbender again. There's no different angle, no other way. He has to face the Firelord head on, like a rock, like I told him when he was learning earthbending."

Grateful for the support, Zuko stared back at Katara, but the waterbender kept her eyes away. It was Suki who spoke first.

"I understand where you're coming from, Zuko. Really, I do. I've seen the devastation the Fire Nation can cause, and I've been a part of it first hand. You know that. But I don't think that working every hour of the day will do much good. Maybe Aang should take a quick break. Maybe a little sandbending training will help him cool off. And besides, it'll give you and Sokka a chance to plan some kind of strategy. I mean, you know the Fire Nation best of all of us, and Sokka's the best strategist. It would be good for all of us."

Zuko seemed grimly satisfied. "Okay, fine. But only for an hour. Then it's back to firebending."

But Aang was already gone, Toph on his heels. Katara and Suki hesitated, unsure of what to do. Sokka gave his girlfriend a kiss.

"Go ahead and have some fun," he urged with a smile. "You deserve it."

Suki returned the Watertribe warrior's kiss. "Thanks, Sokka," she beamed, then turned and followed Aang and Toph down the path. Katara followed her, deciding it would be best if she made sure Toph didn't bruise Aang up too much. Plus, she needed to think about some things.

"When Aang's done," Zuko called after her, "tell him to meet me in the courtyard for more training."

"Okay," she agreed, her joy at working with her element stifled by Zuko's disturbing news.

*~~!*!~~*

Aang could already feel his stress over the Comet slipping away as the ocean came into view and the waterbender inside him felt the pull of the tides. His feet flew over the soft sand, but they'd barely hit the water when a giant tongue of sediments rose up before him, halting him in his tracks.

"Slow down there, Twinkletoes," Toph said from behind him. "We have training to do."

Groaning, Aang turned back to his earthbending teacher and readied himself for a beating. He envied the Watertribe girl and the Kyoshi warrior swimming through the cool waves.

Katara froze a board of ice beneath her feet and coasted the ocean swells with the grace of a master waterbender, but her brilliant smile had vanished since Zuko's outburst. It made Aang think…

And he was pounded right in the gut by an arm of sand.

"Come on, Twinkletoes, keep your head in the game!" Toph shouted from across the sand. The Avatar could tell this would be a long hour…

*~~!*!~~*

Bruised and aching, Aang stumbled into the courtyard with Toph behind him and Katara leading, earning for himself a quizzical stare from his firebending teacher.

"What happened to you?" Zuko demanded crossly. Katara just stepped aside, shaking her head as Aang limped over to the middle of the courtyard.

"Metal…bending… training…" Aang groaned as he tried to stretch. Then he thought better of it and just slumped against the fountain, sticking his face under the trickling water for a little refreshment.

Zuko's good eyebrow rose. "I thought you were supposed to be sandbending."

"I did… and I did okay…" Aang tried to roll his shoulder and winced. "Then Toph wanted me to take a whack at metalbending…"

"And the metalbending took a whack at you instead," Zuko finished, making Toph snort a laugh.

"I'll say!"

Aang just glared.

Zuko cleared his throat. "Well, now that you've had a break from firebending training-"

"Some break…"

"-let's get going. And like I said, fight to kill."

Aang immediately tensed, and Katara sighed quietly. Aches forgotten, the last airbender stood, dwarfed by his firebending teacher, but still willing to argue.

"But I don't want to have to kill the Firelord," he insisted. "There has to be some other w-"

A fire blast aimed for his head silenced him. Katara cried out and tried to run for Aang, but a rock brace on both her feet stopped her in her tracks. The waterbender glared at Toph, though the effect was lost, and the earthbender just shook her head.

"This has to be done," she said quietly, even as Aang leaped away, shouting.

"Are you crazy?!" the Avatar exclaimed, his dark eyes wild, "What are you doing, Zuko?!"

"I'm teaching you a lesson," Zuko hissed before firing again. Aang leapt away, spinning his hands to call up a wind. The fire died away, only to be replaced by a stronger blast. Panicked, Aang dashed out of the courtyard, flying through the trees with Zuko close behind, shooting streams of fire all the way. Only after they had disappeared from sight did Toph release an angry Katara from the stone shackles on her feet.

"We have to do something!" Katara insisted, but she hadn't taken two steps before a rock wall came up around her.

"Aang needs to face this, Katara," Toph said from behind her. "You can't baby him forever…"

*~~!*!~~*

Fire snaked through the treetops, licking at Aang's heels, forcing him to fly faster. He heard a snarl from behind him, far too close for comfort, and another fire blast singed the edge of his robe.

"I'm not going to fight you, Zuko!" the Avatar called back to his teacher. Zuko ran along the ground, keeping up perfectly with the fleeing airbender.

"Didn't you hear what I said about my father?!" the firebender roared. "Do you pay attention to anything I tell you?!"

Aang purposefully slowed and leapt over Zuko's head, jumping through the trees in the opposite direction. Zuko skidded to a halt, sending an open stream of fire after the boy. Palm trees ignited and collapsed. Aang cried out as a circle of licking flames surrounded him. Zuko jumped into the circle, his hands already preparing another attack.

"Enough!" Aang cried, calling the air around him. It swirled wildly, knocking Zuko off his feet. The flames snuffed out in a great whirl, and the Avatar himself seemed to burst into flame with the force of his anger. "I'm not fighting you, and I'm not killing the Firelord!"

Zuko staggered to his feet, his eyes dark. "Then there is no hope at all."

*~~!*!~~*

The moon's shrinking face cast the ground into the dark shadows of palm trees. Inside the Firelord's summer home, the chambers were darker, concealing Aang's restless form lying in his bed. The Avatar tossed, trying to find peace, but failing.

Everything he'd ever learned told him that all life was sacred. How could he throw that away now? How could he kill someone? A life, even a twisted one, was precious to the world.

But if Zuko was right… how could he stop the war without killing Ozai? If he survived, he could escape. He would raise another army, cause rebellions, retake the Fire Nation, start another war, do unspeakable things. Zuko was right. There could be no hope of peace unless the Firelord was destroyed.

Deeply troubled, Aang tossed his sheets aside and left his room, walking the halls in silence. Once, he stepped on a creaky board and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest, but no one came, so he continued on out.

The moon turned the world into a spider's web of shadows, the midnight breeze carried the salty smell of the ocean inland, and the noises of night formed a lullaby that began to sooth Aang's troubled mind. He needed advice. Normally, he looked to his friends for that, but what they would tell him… he just couldn't do it.

*~~!*!~~*

The sudden groan of old wood woke Toph from her light sleep. She sat up from her spot on the floor next to the bed, waiting for a trail of vibrations to hit her waiting palm. The steps in the hall were far too light for any normal person.

"Bad move, Twinkletoes."

*~~!*!~~*

His footsteps took him along the beach. The normally warm sand felt cool and fresh under his toes. The roar and crash of waves echoed in his ears. But the powers of the rolling waves were doldrums compared to the tumult of the young airbender's mind.

A cliff had risen from the beach on Aang's left, creating a wide path of sand between the ocean and the rock face. The tide was low, but when high, it would come right up to the stone, crushing anything between them between the awesome force water and earth. To distract his thoughts, Aang studied the texture of the algae-covered cliff. He could feel the countless years it had taken to carve every rib in the stone, every indentation, every layer. And something else… there was something else. His palm, running along the rock, buzzed with energy. What could it be?

Suddenly, the cliff disappeared from under his hand. Aang stopped. Staring, he had to squint hard before he could tell the shadows of the new tunnel from the dark stone face. A freezing draft wandered out of the cliff mouth, making the airbender shiver hard. He could feel energy in that wind, unnatural energy. He could sense…

"The Spirit World?"

Ember Island had always seemed special for him, but Aang had never considered the possibility that it was a spiritual kind of special.

Without hesitation, the Avatar entered the tunnel. In seconds, he was swallowed by unyielding darkness.

*~~!*!~~*

She'd been working on her sandbending ever since the gang had arrived on Ember Island. Even in the shifting, squishy sediments, the blind earthbender could make out the world around her.

And she could feel the vibrations of a certain airbender up ahead.

Toph shook her head as she marched up the beach. Running away again, when the Comet was only a few days away, with the entire world counting on him? Was Aang really that much of an opossumchicken? That was exactly what Toph planned to find out.

*~~!*!~~*

The cave's walls weren't natural. Aang ran his right hand over the glassy smooth surface, the other lit with a small flame to light the way. The black rock shone bloody orange with the reflection of the fire, and Aang couldn't help but get a sick feeling when he looked into the wall and saw his own reflection among all that shiny red. And yet, he couldn't take his eyes off the walls. They were so smooth and sparkly and dark, like an endless ocean of ink mixed with silver glitter. Like a precious stone glowing in the moonlight. Like a-

"Roku?!"

Aang stared hard into the wall. He'd seen Roku in his reflection, he knew he had. But now the reflection changed. Kyoshi… no, a Watertribe man… then a female Air Nomad.

Suddenly, faces covered the walls, all silent, all serious. Aang again saw Roku and Kyoshi, the only two familiar faces in a sea of hundreds of strangers. Stunned speechless, Aang couldn't protest when his feet automatically began to walk down the tunnel, through the see of reflections. It was like a fractured mirror, each chipped piece reflecting a different image.

"If… if Roku and Kyoshi are here," Aang stuttered to himself, his voice a hoarse whisper, "then these people must be Avatars. These are my past lives!"

He'd seen them once in stone at the Southern Air Temple, but now, in color, against the bright red background of the fire's reflection, they seemed so much more tangible then ever before. They didn't move, but they didn't have to.

Suddenly, Aang's mind seemed to explode. Feelings and memories not his own flooded his consciousness. He saw so many people, people he'd never known or seen, places he'd never been to and could never imagine, felt emotions he'd never felt before. They crowded his thoughts, squeezing them away until all that remained were these alien memories. So many personalities, strengths, weaknesses, flooded his body until it felt like it would break, like he would be overwhelmed.

Powerful spasms shook the Avatar's body, his head almost exploded with pain. He cried out, the howl echoing forever on through the tunnel. And then, as soon as it had come, the intruding memories were gone, and the pain stopped, leaving Aang breathless, facedown in the sand.

All those memories… those personalities, those places, those people, all so strange to him and yet distantly familiar… they had to have been from his past lives. This had never happened to him before, or at least not on this scale. Roku had shown him scenes from his past many times, but Aang had never come into contact with the memories, no, the very presence of all the past Avatar's at once. They had been buried in his unconscious mind, never meant to be released. But somehow, they had been. Why now?

Why here?

And then he saw the light in the distance.

*~~!*!~~*

Toph knew almost as soon as her hand came into contact with the glassy stone of the tunnel that it had not been carved by any man or beast existing. It was natural – somehow – and special. Very special.

The second thing she knew as she went on was that it was getting harder and harder to feel the vibrations of the airbender up ahead. He wasn't getting further away, she could tell, but the sand beneath her feet seemed to blur her vision more than usual, almost like she was losing her ability to see through sand. Pretty soon, everything had become an incomprehensible blur.

Okay, time to give up the chase.

"Aang?" the truly blind earthbender called, expecting any minute to hear the Avatar's surprised exclamation. She didn't. "Aang?" she tried again. "Twinkletoes? Anybody in here?"

Silence.

Stillness.

Well, obviously he wasn't there, though Toph would have bet money she had felt Aang come in. She couldn't go on in this complete blackness, and Aang wouldn't come to her. The only thing she could do was turn around and go back. So she did.

And she ran right into a wall, a seamless, glassy-smooth wall. Puzzled and more than a little scared, Toph thrust her palms into the wall, attempting to blow a hole in it. Nothing happened. She tried again, pushing harder. The wall held.

And then Toph panicked.

*~~!*!~~*

The light remained steady in the distance, a pinpoint of white against a sea of darkness. Aang stared at it hard, forgetting to blink, his mouth going slack. He knew what it was before before he realized he was moving towards it. A door to the Spirit World. A feeling deep in his gut told him that much.

He could find Roku, get advice, and maybe some information on what had just happened to him.

Suddenly, a voice echoed past him from behind, bouncing off the walls so many times it was impossible to make out what it said. But he did recognize the voice itself. And she sounded quite distressed.

"Toph!" Aang shouted, standing and turning away from the light. But the instant he turned away, his stomach wrenched inside his body, and he fell to his knees. The Avatar opened his eyes and gasped.

He was in the Spirit World.

*~~!*!~~*

She'd called Aang's name several times, and still no response. She couldn't see anything through the blur this strange sand left her in. And she couldn't earthbend the wall trapping her in the tunnel.

"Aang! Aang, come on, this is serious! Where are you!"

A long minute of silence followed her. Toph opened her mouth to shout again, and at that moment, her body yanked back, knocking her hard into the ground.

"Toph! How did you get here?!" Aang's voice, and from the sound of it, he was right next to her. Toph stood up, but when her feet hit the solid ground, all she could feel was the dirt beneath her feet.

"Aang?" she asked quietly, her voice quivering.

"Yeah?"

"… Where are you?"

"You mean you can't- Oh no!" A hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder, but it was gentle enough that Toph knew it was Aang. "Toph… I don't know how, but… you're in the Spirit World. And… you can't bend here."

"But that means I can't see! I can't see anything! Where's the way out? Take me back! Take me back NOW, Aang!"

Aang paused, every second of silence making Toph's heart beat faster.

"Toph… I can't see the way we came in. We can't get out without Hei Bai… and I don't know where he is."

Under normal circumstances, Toph would have hated herself for the quake in her voice and the tears already sliding down her cheeks. "So we're stuck here?!"

*~~!*!~~*

Fire Nation flags whipped in the warm breeze, making Azula smile. She stood beside her father, looking out over the fleet of battle ready airships that would soon be burning the Earth Kingdom to a crisp, leaving nothing behind.

"I cannot wait to watch the Earth Kingdom's land burn," the princess hissed, her eyes flashing with maniacal glee.

Her father never flinched.

"You won't see it."

Azula's smile vanished instantly. "What? Why not?! We planned to go together! I thought-"

"You must stay here," Ozai cut in. He turned on her, his golden eyes firm. "While I am gone, I want you to watch over the Fire Nation. You will be the next Firelord."

Shocked but insanely pleased, Azula let herself smile darkly. "In that case, I accept. I am honored that you would trust me with such a position."

"There is no one I trust more."

"But then… what of you? Are you stepping down?" Azula couldn't help the undertone of greed that slipped into her voice.

"Better," Ozai hissed. "I am rising up!" His voice rose, echoing over the courtyard where the airships, and their hundreds of soldiers, stood at attention. "I will become the supreme ruler of the entire earth, and the four nations will be united under one flag. My flag." On cue, enormous red flags bearing the golden form of a phoenix unfurled from the sides of the airships, and every battalion raised their own. As the swarm of red and gold armored soldiers rose up as one in a tremendous roar that shook the earth under Azula's feet, one voice stood out above the rest, making her heart still in awe. "I declare myself the Phoenix King!"

To Be Continued…