Guidance

An ethereal breeze ruffled Aang's tattered gold and orange breeches as he stood at the crest of a grassy hilltop. Thick bandages were wrapped snugly around his midsection, and a golden pin in the shape of the Fire Nation emblem secured a rippling red cloak over his bare shoulders. Miles overhead, the endless blue sky was dotted with fluffy, high-flying clouds that drifted absentmindedly on the air currents, with no destination. Below him, the land stretched out to the horizon, an ocean of swaying, dipping golden grasses that rippled as the wind made them dance. The air was fresh and smelled distinctly of rain, which had bathed the land and made the soil soft and permeable. Behind Aang, in the lee of the hill, lay Appa, curled up on the ground, sleeping. His breathing was slow and steady, and his great chest rose and fell in rhythmic time with the rest of the world.

The scent of a thick, creamy vegetable soup drifted up toward Aang from the campsite, where Katara was tending to the cooking fire below the cauldron that held the bubbling meal. Toph sat a little ways away on a small gray boulder, her legs crossed beneath her and her chin resting in her hands, a thoughtful expression on her porcelain-doll features. Sokka relaxed on the ground, leaning leisurely against the boulder, his eyes closed and his hands folded in his lap. Momo was curled up on the warrior's shoulder, his ringed tail wrapped comfortably around Sokka's neck.

Rising once more, the wind swirled in a great gust around the hilltop where Aang stood, staring out upon all of nature's great beauty while unsettling turmoil boiled like an agitated kettle within him. Releasing a shuddering sigh, Aang allowed his legs to collapse beneath him as he sat, folding his feet beneath him in a lotus position. Pressing his fists together, the airbender closed his eyes and strove to reach inside himself, searching for the comforting presence of the past Avatars.

Without warning, the wind rose to a startling hiss. Aang only focused more determinedly, his jaw set and his mind whirring with the effort.

Suddenly, the air stilled. Seconds passed as Aang continued to delve deeper within his own mind, striving to reach the unreachable.

"Aang, I'm here, you know."

The airbender started, jerking up out of his meditative position when he heard the voice. Blinking, his eyes focused on the tall, imposing figure, garbed in the crimson that bespoke of a Fire Nation noble, before him. "Roku!"

Getting to his feet, Aang glanced around. He was no longer atop the hill, but deep in the glade of some forest. Enormous redwood and cedar trees, with berths that would take half a day to transverse, surrounded them. He looked to Roku with questioning eyes. "Where are we?" He rose his palm, puffing out an experiment stream of air. The grass beneath his feet ruffled in response. "We're not in the Spirit World."

The past Avatar smiled warmly at his incarnation. "This place is known to many as the Wood of Lost Souls, halfway between the mortal and spirit worlds. This is why you can bend, but you are still separate from your body."

Aang blinked confusedly at him. "Why are we here?"

Roku shifted. "You and I are spiritually cut off from each other. You cannot summon me at will as you once could."

Aang hung his head shamefully, scuffing his boots in the grass. "I blocked my seventh chakra. My chi isn't flowing like it should."

"I know," Roku leveled his gaze with the airbender's. "All of us felt the separation when you were struck."

"Azula did it," Aang added, just as dejectedly.

Roku nodded. "I know this, too."

"Why," Aang began hesitantly once more, looking up to meet the firebender's gaze, "If we are cut off from each other, are we here?"

Blinking slowly, Roku lowered his chin to gaze wisely at the airbender. "I have come of my own accord, and because of your efforts to contact me, so have you arrived here."

Aang nodded.

"What we must talk about," Roku went on, "Is of utmost importance, and is little known in the mortal world."

The airbender stood a little straighter, awaiting further instruction.

The old firebender did not make him wait. "I assume you have heard the term 'follow your heart?'"

An uneasy feeling swam in the pit of Aang's stomach as he nodded the affirmative.

Roku drew himself to his full height, stating sternly, "Well, don't."

"Don't?" Aang inquired, puzzled.

"Don't," Roku repeated firmly.

"But why?" the airbender asked.

"There are many choices," Roku told him, "Many alternate paths to take. But you must follow the path that will guide you correctly, because if you do not, it is not only you who will suffer."

Aang stared blankly, thoroughly lost with the entire conversation. Roku sighed.

"You can follow logic. That is your mind," Roku began, listing the choices seriously, "You can follow your emotions. That is physical. You can follow your heart…which is a combination of both your emotions and logic, but is much more favorable towards your emotions, and therefore is unstable and unpredictable. None of these are paths that will lead you to defeating the Fire Lord. Logic tells you it is nary impossible, your emotions tell you that you must do it, no matter how you manage it, and your heart tells you that there is no other way."

Aang stared at Roku incredulously. "What, then, must I follow, if all the choices are the wrong ones?"

"Your conscience."

"But," the airbender's brow furrowed. "Isn't that the same as your heart?"

"No," Roku answered, "It is very similar, but it has a critical difference."

"What?"

Folding his hands into the sleeves of his robe, Roku exhaled. "Your conscience has a connection to the supernatural being…to a higher conscious that no scholar alive (or dead) has been able to explain. This being is like a compass…it points you always in the right direction, and uses your logic and your emotions to help balance out and guide. For example, if you were to steal a fish from a local market, you must have a good reason to do so, right?"

Aang cocked his head thoughtfully. "Uh…well, if you had no food to eat and no money, you would have no choice else but to steal."

"Wrong!"

Roku's exclamation startled Aang, and he blinked in bewilderment as his past life went on. "You always have a choice. Think, Aang. What would be an alternate solution?"

The airbender's brow furrowed as he searched his thoughts and memories for a possible answer. "Um…maybe you could…offer to work at a booth in exchange for food or money to buy food?"

"Good, good…go on."

"Uh…you could beg…or perform for money. Like a song…or a dance! Or you could sell your shoes…or you could make dolls from grass reeds and sell them…or you could…"

Roku lifted a hand, stopping the airbender's excited torrent as the possibilities flooded his mind. The old firebender smiled. "Do you see, Aang? The easiest thing, or the first idea that comes to mind, is not always the best or the only one. No matter how many people believe it is, nor how hard it is to find another way, there always is. And this is how your conscience guides you."

Aang smiled and finished the explanation for the old firebender. "My conscience uses my own mind and heart to help me figure out what is right."

Roku nodded. "When your mind tells you the effort is not worth it, and when your emotions tell you you're too weak, you conscience says believe. It says there is no such thing as hopeless, no such thing as lost. You can always find your way, as long as you believe that you can."

The airbender's face broke into a thoughtful grin. He bowed, pressing his fist to his palm in the traditional Fire Nation salute. "Thank you, Roku. You have helped me much."

The firebender closed his eyes briefly. "Possibly more than you know, young one." But before Aang could ask what he meant, Roku lifted an arm and gestured hurriedly. "You must go. Our time here is ending. Neither of us can sustain enough energy to stay in the World Between for much longer."

"But—" Aang pleaded.

"Go!" Roku demanded, his image beginning to flicker in and out of existence.

Bowing his head resignedly, Aang took a step back, watching with a deep sense of loss as his mentor and friend quite literally vanished into thin air.

Suddenly and shockingly, the wind returned with a roar. Fatigue flooded through his limbs, and Aang wasn't able to keep himself in an upright sitting position. He collapsed on to his back with a breathless gasp, groaning. Far above him, the same puffy clouds drifted by, though the sky was paling to a dusky orange. Exhaling, he reflected on Roku's words and wondered why it took so much energy from his mortal body to go to the Wood of the Lost Souls. Shuddering, he realized why the World Between might be called that. Could his body have died if he had stayed there too long? Then, he supposed, he might've become a Lost Soul.

"Aang!"

A shadow fell over him, and the airbender opened his eyes. He pushed himself to a sitting position wearily, supporting himself with shaking arms. "Hey, Katara," he smiled weakly as he looked up at the waterbender. His eyes refused to stay in focus, but he could make out the shady figures of Toph and Sokka standing shoulder-to–shoulder behind her.

"What on earth were you doing, Twinkletoes?" the earthbender demanded as Katara reached out to steady the airbender with a firm hand against his shoulder.

Aang shook his head, mumbling aloud, "I was talking to Roku."

"But how?" Sokka asked, leaning downward with his hands crossed over his chest. "I thought you were 'cut off from the cosmics' and all that junk."

Aang felt a twitch of irritation. "Cosmic energy," he corrected, "And…it's sort of a long story."

"Look, you're shaking!" Katara pointed out, appalled. "Come on, let's get you down from this hill and get some food inside you before you pass out!"

Aang blinked gratefully at her as she and Sokka pulled him to his feet. He wobbled unsteadily, and Toph wedged herself underneath his right shoulder, and Katara supported his left side. "Wow, Aang," the earthbender remarked with a smirk as they started down the steep hill, "Did Roku beat the pudding out of you, or what?"

A/N: Okay, this is a random idea I came up with a while ago and decided to write down. I'm not sure when in the chronology of the show this is, although its before the GAang go undercover in the Fire Nation and after he woke up in The Awakening, so...you can determine for yourself when and where they are. Whoopee. And don't forget to press that button! Yes, that button! Right below here! The magical button that will give you anything you want! (cough) reviews (cough) :D