A/N- Before you all start murdering me with all of the bloody murder weapons you have created in my absence, just read the chapter, and think of how you will forgive me…heh…heh….yeah O.O I AM SO…FREAKING….SORRY

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Book 4

Air

Chapter 20:

The Final Battle

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Aang wakes up, rubbing his eyes exhaustedly due to his lack of good sleep. He rolls his feet of the side of his bed and walks up to the single wide window in his room. He crosses his arms on the ledge of it and rests his head on them.

With a yawn, he closes his eyes as Momo perches upon his shoulder. Aang turned to him tiredly, "Today's the day, Momo." He turns back to the window, looking down a seeing his friends sitting around and making breakfast, he frowns, "And hopefully it will be the last of this."

He throws on his robes and tries to rub away his tiredness, but only managing to make his eyes more red and heavy. He walks down to greet his friends and Katara is the first to notice him. She turns to him and looks at him worriedly, standing up while placing the rice-scooper back into the pot.

She walks up to him and clasps his face in her hands, examining him with worry, "Aang, you look terrible, is everything alright?"

Aang sighs, "No, not really. I was kept up all night by nightmares."

"Do you want to talk about them?"

In reply, Aang shakes his head sullenly.

Katara sighs and gives him a quick hug, telling him to sit down, "Have some breakfast,"

The airbender sits down slowly and Momo flies onto his shoulder again, purring and nuzzling the back of his head. Aang smiles slightly and strokes the lemur's head as Katara hands him a bowl of jook. He smells the porridge-like mixture and smiles slightly, always enjoying Katara's cooking.

He slurps it down, still worried about the series of nightmares that he had suffered through that night. After bowls were cleaned and everyone dressed in their flexible bending outfits, the gaang got their stuff packed up to leave.

Katara stood in her room, staring at the blood-stained robes she had worn to the last battle. "Not again…" She whispered, staring angrily at the clothes, violently tightening her belt around her waist, wincing slightly as it pressed hard against the tender flesh where her wound had been.

She folded the ruined robe and placed it into her bag. Maybe they could get the stain out someday…

She tossed the bag over her shoulder and closed her eyes, mentally preparing for what was to come. As she walked out of the room, and closed the door behind her, she did not see the young airbender standing right outside. They collided and Katara jumped back, slamming against the rough wood of the door behind her. She grabbed her forehead in slight pain where their heads knocked into each other and Aang was quick to apologize, even though he was in the same amount of pain as she was.

"I'm so sorry, Katara!" He squeaked out, as he was also shocked from the impact.

Katara softly chuckled, "Don't worry, I've dealt through worse," The pain started to fade and she put down her hand, looking at Aang and realizing that that wasn't really the best thing he wanted to be reminded of.

Aang was looking away sadly and Katara immediately felt guilty, "I'm sorry, Aang."

Aang shook it off and looked up at her, a soft smile on his lips.

"Why were you out here anyways? Did you have to tell me something?" Katara asked, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

Aang's eyes widened and he blushed, "Oh, well, um…I uh…I got you some flowers from the meditation garden…" He held the multicolored blossoms out to her, the blush not leaving his face, "I just…thought you might like them…" He smiled softly, still blushing.

Katara laughed softly and smiled, taking the flowers from him and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Aang was shocked, but he smiled anyways, he loved getting hugs from her.

"Thank you, Aang, I love them," She muttered into his neck and closed her eyes.

Aang sighed contentedly, smiling and wrapping his arms around her and softly squeezing her. They pulled away moments later and Aang grabbed her hand, leading her outside.

"How is your waterbending doing? Did you try it out at all after I left last night?" Aang asked, smiling at her.

Katara smiled hesitantly, "No, I was exhausted, wanna go and practice before we leave?"

Aang beamed, "I'd love to! Waterbending always clears my mind, especially when I'm with you," he blushed at the end, and Katara laughed, kissing him on the cheek. She grabbed his hand and Aang led her to a pool fed by underground springs.

Once there, the two happily bent globs of water into the air and practiced one of their everyday waterbending exercises, spinning the water balls around them both, taking turns taking control of each of them. After a few minutes of this, Katara stopped the cycle and the water globs splashed into the pool. Aang looked at her questionably.

"Let's try harder moves, to see if I got any stronger while unlocking my 'true power'," She laughed as she said 'true power'.

She hovered her hands above the water and concentrated, loving the power tingling in her fingertips that she had missed so much as she was recovering. She smiled and lifted her hands farther up, taking the water with her as she proceeded to create a large wave in the pool. Aang saw the wave grow and he splashed through the water to get behind Katara, so that he would not get caught in the wave.

When the wave got high enough, she sent it forward, watching as it crashed against the earthen wall of the room. The water proceeded to flood around the entire room, knocking the two back as it splashed against them.

They slammed against the wall behind them and groaned in slight pain, watching the waters die and settle to their normal flow through the room.

Aang was the first to speak, starting out with a small chuckle, "Maybe that strong of a wave was meant for outside."

Katara laughed as well, "Yeah, I guess so…But I'm just so happy that my bending is back. I'm nothing without it."

Aang opened his mouth to speak but stopped, closing his mouth and smiling, a blush forming on his pale cheeks.

Katara grinned and looked at him questionably, "What were you going to say?"

"Nothing." Aang muttered, embarrassed of himself.

Katara gave him 'the look', staring him down until he gave in. He hated her ability to do that to him, but he loved her so much. "Okay, fine, I was just going to say something cheesy, but I stopped myself."

Katara laughed, "Aww, Aang, you can say it, I won't laugh."

Aang looked at her sadly, "You laughed while saying that…"

"Yeah, because you can be so cute! I love it about you, please tell me," She smiled warmly.

Aang sighed, "I was…Well…You said that without your waterbending you'd be nothing…So I almost said I wouldn't be anything without you…."

Katara blushed and smiled, walking through the water to be close enough to hug him, "I wouldn't be anything without you either."

After the embrace, Aang smiled and leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, "We should be getting back to the others, we have to get going."

"Right," Katara smiled, wrapping her arms around him again to quickly hug him before heading towards the doorway.

Aang looked lovingly at her as she left, his face softening, he couldn't imagine what would happen if she got hurt again. He didn't want her fighting at all, but she insisted on it. He strode towards the door and followed her into the hallway, bending the water off of his body like she had done moments before.

After dressing into their comfortable bending clothes the two made their way over to their friends, who were continuing to pack up their stuff.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Sokka asked, somewhat irritated, "Or do you just want to wait until the energybenders find us?"

"Sorry, we just wanted to practice waterbending," Katara said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Be that as it may, we have to get going, more and more people are going to get hurt or die if we wait any longer," he said, tossing the last bag onto Appa's saddle.

Aang sighed, "Okay, okay, everyone get on, I just have to do one more thing."

Sokka grunted, "Fine, but hurry."

"Don't worry, I will," Aang smiled softly, grabbing onto Katara's hand before she had time to get on Appa's back. She looked at him with questioning eyes until Aang gave her a quick reassuring smile. He led her over to a small garden around the corner, having her sit down on the soft grass. He sat down in front of her.

"Last night…I was kept up a while with nightmares…as you know," Aang spoke, and Katara nodded, looking at him intently.

He continued, "I didn't want to talk about them back there…and I'm still not sure if I really want to now, but….they were mostly about you…"

Katara stared to the side sadly, not wanting to meet his eyes. Aang placed his hand on hers, "But some were also about me…if something like that happened to me."

Katara's head turned to face him and she worriedly stared into his eyes, this time it was Aang who was looking away. He continued, "So I wanted to give you something, it's nothing much," he pulled out a small heart-shaped stone attached to a necklace, "I just wanted you to have something from me, in case…things turn out badly."

Katara's outstretched palm caught the small trinket and she stared sadly at it, "But…you're stronger than that…Nothing bad will happen."

Aang half-smiled, not out of happiness, but because the couple had had a similar conversation right before the last battle, "As much as I want to believe you….You said that the last time we went into battle…and look at how things turned out there."

Katara didn't know want to say, he was right, she had said the exact same thing. She spoke, "But I was being stupid, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, I shou-,"

"Katara, please, it's not your fault that happened!" He grabbed her shoulders and looked her sadly in the eyes, "I should have been more observant and seen him standing there."

Katara just shook her head, a few tears forming in her eyes.

Aang immediately loosened his grip on her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and closed her eyes.

Aang spoke softly, "I'm sorry, Katara, I didn't mean to make you cry…"

Katara shook her head and pushed him away slightly, but only so she could look at him, "You didn't make me cry…I just…Well…Just try your best to not get hurt…okay, Aang? I can't handle it twice…"

Aang frowned and looked down sadly, " Same goes for you."

They both nodded in agreement, creating an awkward silence between them.

Katara stared down at the necklace enclosed in her fist and she loosened her grip to admire the small smooth stone. She brought it up to her lips and closed her eyes, pressing her lips to it.

Aang smiled softly and as she lowered her hand onto her lap once more, he grabbed the necklace from her and pressed his lips against the stone as well, placing it back in her palm and closing her fingers around it, "Now just keep this with you, and know that I love you more than anything in the world."

He cupped her cheek in his hand and leaned towards her. She muttered, "I love you too, Aang," right before his lips met hers. They lingered there a moment, their eyes fluttering closed as they enjoyed each other's presence.

"GUYS! Where'd you go?" Sokka shouted across the yard. Aang sighed, looking down at his lap, irritated out of his mind. Katara was in a similar position.

Aang looked up, his irritation showing in the features of his face. Katara smiled though, "Just ignore him for a moment."

She leaned forward and the couple continued to kiss until Sokka screamed for them once more, a minute or two later. Aang pulled away slowly, his eyes still closed as they rested their foreheads against each other. Katara sighed, sliding her hands across their laps to grasp Aang's. "No matter what happens, just know I love you,"

Aang smiles softly, "I love you too, so much, and I'll protect you at any cost." He gently grabs the necklace from her palm and slides it over her head, kissing her nose.

Katara slides her arms around him hugs him tightly, never wanting to let go, but she knows she has to. They released each other and smiled, standing up and walking away, hand in hand.

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After two hours of flying, the gaang had still not found the energybender army. They could be anywhere in the Earth Kingdom! As they flew over the earth kingdom town they stopped at a few days before, Aang was reminded of what Hikaru had asked them to do.

"When you find out what the guru has to say…please return with a cure, and I will fight loyally by your side to defeat them. They will not get away with kidnapping my family"

Aang flew Appa down into the town and jumped off to talk with Hikaru. He didn't know what he would say to the man. He didn't know how they could cure him without the guru's help, or without spending too much time in meditation. They had to fight the energy benders now.

He hesitantly knocked on the door of Hikaru's father, waiting for someone to answer. It was Takeo, and at the sight of Aang, he smiled. "Come in, Avatar, come in."

Aang smiled and nodded, walking into the house and looking for Hikaru. He quickly found him sitting in a chair practicing Pai Sho. Aang smiled and sat down across from him.

Hikaru beamed at the sight of him, "Oh, thank goodness, Avatar, did you find a cure?"

Aang opened his mouth to speak, but he stopped himself, not knowing what to say. He looked down sadly.

Hikara looked depressed as well now, "I see…"

Aang quickly looked up at him, "No, Hikaru, there is a cure, it's just only a procedure a guru can do for you, I haven't really had enough practice to really teach someone yet. The cure take about two days to work, so we can't risk anymore waiting to end this before it really gets bad. If you want, you can still come with us to find your family, but unless you are skilled in anything besides bending, I don't know how much help you will be to us."

"Oh…I see. Well, I would like to rescue my family, and I am skilled with broadswords." Hikaru spoke, looking sad though.

"Then we'll take you with us, don't worry about it being a bother," Aang smiled.

"Really?" Hikaru already looked happier.

"Yes," Aang smiled, "But, we have a problem, we have no idea where they are."

"Oh, well, I can help you with that," Hikaru said, "I remember seeing airships rise from inside their ships when I had fallen to the floor. I saw them rise into the air and turn towards the north east, so we should head north east of my town, I can direct you where you need to go."

"Okay, that will work then." Aang smiled, standing up, "Though, how is your wound, does it cause you any pain?"

"Not enough to fuss about," Hikara laughed, "Let's get going."

"Right." Aang grinned, "Grab your broad swords and whatever else you'd like to bring and meet me outside."

"Can do," Hikaru spoke, running to another room of the house.

Aang grinned and walked outside, pulling his bison whistle necklace from under his shirt and blowing it, the high pitched ring sounding out and sending Appa flying. Appa landed right in front of Aang and the airbender smiled, steping forward and petting his old friend's nose. Appa closed his eyes in happiness.

Hikaru stepped out of the house and walked up to Appa, looking in wonder at the large bison.

"Go ahead, climb up," Aang smiled, boosting up himself.

Hikaru climbed on and awkwardly placed himself between Suki and Mai. Aang climbed onto Appa's head with Katara and called out, "Yip yip!" sending Appa flying into the sky.

It took many hours before the gaang made it to where Hikaru had guided them. There was still no sign of the energy benders, and the gaang was beginning to lose hope that they would find them that day.

Nighttime fell and they solemnly flew about the sky. How could they find a small army of men in an entire continent? The chances were thin.

That is, until they saw the smoke in the distance. Fire. Burning. Ashes. A town.

Everyone stared out at the devastation before them. Two large airships were parked about a mile away from them, and about half a mile farther was the burning town.

"We have to go help them!" Katara shouted out, still staring in shock at the fire.

Aang nodded and he turned to everyone else.

"But the energybenders are down there!" Sokka added.

"We can't let our fear of them change our minds about this, there are people down there! Innocent people who this shouldn't have happened to! We're going!" Aang yelled, anger and fear in his eyes, the energybenders would not get away with this, "Appa, yip yip!"

Appa bounded into the air and Aang eyed the town carefully. Screaming people were running out of the city and some earthbenders of the town were trying to put out the fires. He quickly turned to a nearby lake and he shook Katara's shoulder. She knew what he meant and they both stood up, grasping the water from the lake together and bending it into the sky above them.

The town was fairly large, and with everything being on fire like this, they had to hurry.

The kids flew up to Appa's head on their dragon-horses, shouting to Aang, "What should we do?"

Aang, who was sweating from the intense amount of water they were carrying, looked to them slowly, and muttered, "Try…getting people out of houses…but don't go into badly damaged ones…stay safe."

They nodded and flew down, running into the town to help the people.

Appa flew high above the town and Aang and Katara motioned for the water to hover beneath them, right above the city.

"I've…got it, Katara," Aang breathed, gritting his teeth.

Katara looked at him, confused, "But it's so much water,"

Aang flashed her his trademark grin, and said, "Hey, I'm the avatar aren't I?"

Katara half smiled and let go of her half of the water as Aang took control of it. Aang looked down and took a deep breath, calming his mind. Moments later, his eyes flashed a brilliant white and Katara stared at him, the Avatar State never ceasing to scare her.

Aang stood up straighter, the large amount of water no longer straining him, he bent his knees and spun around, taking the water with him. The water broke up into tiny pieces, creating a large shower of water, and he sent it all flying down on the town. He exited the Avatar State and fell down on his back on Appa's head. Katara quickly helped him sit up and he shook off his dizziness.

"Let's go!" Aang shouted once he got up, "Help anyone you can. Put out fires, rescue people, etcetera." He landed Appa outside the town and he and everyone else ran in.

Aang was the first in, his determination and his airbending speeding him up. He saw a building about to collapse nearby, it appeared to be a house. One wall had already caved in, so he jumped inside. At first he couldn't find anyone, but then he heard the screaming child near him. He kneeled down quickly, starting to cough heavily due to the smoke, picking up stray boards and throwing them aside. Soon he spotted her, a small girl, probably five years old, holding a tiny baby in some cloths.

Aang shouted to them, the burning and screaming sounds from around the town being very loud. "I'm the Avatar, I'm here to help you, come here,"

"Th-the Avatar?" The little girl coughed out. She crawled forward clumsily, until Aang was close enough to pick her up.

"Hold the baby close to you, I'll get you out of here," Aang smiled weakly, "Is there anyone else in the house?"

"N-no, my parents were out working." She whispered, clutching the baby tightly as it cried.

"Okay, here we g-," Aang was interrupted as a few flaming boards collapsed onto his back, he cried out when it happened a gritted his teeth. It was extremely heavy, and he knew that at any moment, the ceiling would crash.

"Are you okay, mister Avatar?" The little girl cried.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, just hold on," Aang winced. He shifted his arms so that one was gripping the girl and baby, and the other was free to airbend. He moved his free arm in a circular motion, creating an airball around them. He expanded it and the boards lifted themselves from his back, earning a sigh of relief from him. Soon there was room enough to stand and Aang jumped out of the house, right as it collapsed.

He got them out near Appa and told the girl to stay there where it was safe.

He ran back in, successfully rescuing ten little kids and their caretaker from an orphanage. He hadn't seen any of his friends since they ran in. Multiple houses followed.

He ran into another house, coughing like crazy, his arm up to his mouth to try and block some of the smoke, "Hello! Is anyone in here?"

A weak "yeah" came from the room next to him and he rushed in. There was a girl in the room, probably around his age. Her leg was crushed beneath the back wall of the room. She was crying, but when she saw him, she spoke, "A-Avatar Aang. You're here!"

Aang gave a weak smile to her, running over to lift up the numerous boards pinning her down.

Eventually he got the boards off of her and flipped her over onto her back. He scooped her up into his arms and made his way out of the building. Once he had got back to Appa, he set her down softly on his tail. He straightened himself out and took in his surroundings. Most of the fires had been put out by the lakewater, and some by townsfolk using water from wells in buckets. The fires that remained were the ones that his friends were checking for people.

A large crowd of people had formed, made out of the people the gaang had rescued or the ones that had escaped themselves. Aang sighed, knowing that many more people remained. He had already encountered enough dead bodies for him to handle, but at least they had saved quite a few people. He wiped sweat from his brow and ran back in, saving a few more people, and on his last round, he saw a figure standing in the middle of a burning street.

He shouted out to it, "Hey! You need to get out of here! Follow me!"

He waited for the figure to respond, but instead the figure walked up slowly. Aang stared at the man in confusion, but walked forward as well.

As soon as the figure's face came into view, Aang gasped and stepped back.

"Kang-Dae…" Aang whispered in both fear and anger.

"I knew you'd come and find me sometime, Avatar," Kang-Dae smirked, "You probably thought you had killed me at the end of the last battle."

Aang glared at him, "No, I knew you weren't that weak."

Kang-Dae laughed, "Well, I'm glad we can both agree I'm stronger than you."

"I never said that," Aang growled, his fists tightening, "I came here to end this once and for all."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Kang-Dae continued to laugh, "You have a weak group of friends, and I killed the last one that had a decent amount of power."

"No…she's alive." Aang muttered, continuing his glare.

Kang-Dae stopped his laughing and he squinted his eyes to focus on Aang, to see if he was lying or not, "There's no way, that was a fatal wound I gave her. She died. I took her bending away. And no one has the power to bring back the dead except rare spirits."

Aang was the one to smirk now, "Then maybe I have more power than you think I do."

Kang-Dae scoffed at this, "We'll see when the battle begins."

Aang looked at the prince, confused, "And when is that?"

"Hmmm," Kang-Dae crossed his arms over his chest, "Tomorrow, one hour before sunset. In the clearing of the mountains to the east of here."

"No!" Aang growled, "I came here to end this now! I will not wait!" He jumped forward through the air and flung a large boulder made from the pavement in the street towards Kang-Dae.

Kang-Dae also jumped into the air, dodging it, "I know you're weak from rescuing all of these people, Avatar, so I want to fight you at your full potential! Rest up for tomorrow, for you will need all the strength you can get." And with that, he ran off into the fire.

Aang stared, wide-eyed and angry in the direction that Kang-Dae disappeared in. He was angry, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was too weak to fight for long. He couldn't breath, he could hardly see, and the pain in his back from the board falling on him was throbbing. Kang-Dae would kill him in seconds, and then where would the world be?

Aang suddenly felt dizzy, and he stepped back a bit, he had to get out of here before he would pass out. He ran clumsily back towards Appa, where all of his friends were waiting for him.

Katara ran up and hugged him, supporting him due to the fact that he could hardly walk. Aang managed to look up at the still burning town.

"No…" He whispered, "There are still people there….we can't…stop." He gently pushed Katara away and walked up to the town, he closed his eyes and concentrated.

"He can't possibly be thinking of going into the Avatar State can he?" Katara asked in fear, turning to her friends, "He's too weak."

Sure enough, moments later, Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed and he bounded high into the air, gathering up a large amount of air. He sent it all down upon the town and used it to send air currents through the buildings and the streets to blow the fires away.

After he was finished, the town was clear of fire, and he began to float back down in a ball of air. Ten feet above the ground though, he passed out, and fell to the ground, landing on his back with a thud.

"Aang!" Katara cried as she ran up to him, she sat down and placed his head on her lap, taking the remaining water from her waterskin and getting to work on his burns.

"Wow…I didn't know Aang could do that much just using the Avatar State," Suki whispered, staring at the once-burning town.

"It's amazing, the power he can have sometimes," Sokka added, "It makes us seem kind of useless in comparison."

"You know Aang doesn't think of us like that," Katara spoke to Sokka, but continued watching Aang, "He loves us all, and appreciates all that we do for him, even if in comparison, we are weak."

"I guess so…" Sokka answered.

"Though I do see where you're coming from," Katara added, while shrugging, but then she changed the subject, "Where did Hikaru go? Did he come out of the town yet? Has anyone seen him?" She began to worry.

"No, don't worry about him, he went to investigate the airships with Toph, to see if his family was being kept hostage inside," Zuko spoke while brushing some ashes off of his shoulder, though it was no use, they were all covered.

"Just the two of them?" Katara asked, worriedly, "Are they okay?"

Everyone shrugged, and Sokka said, "We told you, we haven't heard from them."

Katara looked down sadly, "Well, I hope they made it alright."

After tending the wounds of the townsfolk, everyone set up camp around Appa and went to bed, taking turns staying up, waiting for Toph and Hikaru to return. Aang still hadn't awakened yet, but his burns were healed, as well as most of the bruise from his back. He lay sleeping inside Katara's sleeping bag, while she laid down next to him outside of the bag.

Near one o' clock in the morning, it was Katara's turn to watch for them and sure enough, they showed up, a large group of people following them.

Katara stood up and stared at them in shock, wondering where the people came from.

"They were keeping prisoners on board!" Hikaru shouted to her, snapping her out of her daze, "I found my family, they're okay!"

Katara grinned and shouted back, "That's great!"

"Ehhh," Sokka groaned from his bed on the ground, "Could you be any louder!"

Katara's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at him and she walked up to him, kicking his side to wake him. "Hikaru and Toph are back with the energybenders' prisoners."

Sokka wasn't extremely thrilled, due to his tiredness, but he got up anyways, going to wake up everyone else.

Once everyone, with the exception of Aang, was awake, they walked up to Hikaru, looking at him with his family. He was very happy with his wife and children, one boy, probably around ten or eleven years, and one girl, probably around Katara's age. His kids clung to him, their arms wrapped around him as he stood there, holding the hand of his wife.

The girl walked up to Katara, "Where's Avatar Aang? Is he okay?"

Katara nodded, "Yes, he was very tired from everything he did last night, and he passed out, but I'm sure he'll be fine. Most of us were on the verge of passing out, believe me," she laughed.

The girl smiled and nodded, "Well, I'm glad he's okay,"

Katara smiled and nodded as well, walking back over to Aang and kneeling down beside him. She froze a washcloth slightly and placed it on his forehead, causing him to flinch a little. Aang's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at Katara, "Where…where are we?"

Katara beamed at the sight of him awake, "We're right outside the town you saved," She cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled.

Aang grinned slightly, "Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, and Hikaru and Toph made it back safely."

"Where did they go again?" Aang winced as he sat up, still a bit sore. He shook it off and very soon he did not feel any pain.

"To break into the airships and see if there were any hostages on board," Katara answered.

"Were there any?" Aang asked looking around, but once he saw the new crowd of people, he answered himself by muttering, "Oh."

He stood up and took in his surroundings; so many people were crowded, getting wounds treated by each other. Even Katara, who had gotten a fairly bad burn from a falling board on her arm had been bandaged up. Unfortunately, this is the price of helping people. He figured that Katara had healed his burns, seeing as though most of the burns he remembered were gone.

Despite all of the healing he had received, he was still covered from head to toe in ash, as was most of the people there. Aang walked over so that the hole that the lake was in was in sight. Thankfully, he and Katara had not taken all of the water from the lake, so they could have someplace to wash up, they would just have to walk down a little while to get to where the water starts.

The large group of people all decided to continue to sleep until morning, so they did, and in the morning, with the help of the rest of the gaang, everyone was able to escort the large group of people to the small lake. Everyone dove in to clean their burns and wounds.

Katara ran up to Aang, laughing, tackling him into the water with a washcloth in her hand. Since they were near the shore, in wasn't deep and Aang splashed into the water, sinking to the bottom and grinning as he looked up at Katara. She grinned back at him and pulled him back from the soft muddy floor.

Once they had caught their breath, Katara laughed and said, "You wash my back, I'll wash yours?"

Aang laughed as well, "Sure thing."

They were both still completely clothed, but they still got to work scrubbing ashes and dust out of their clothes before getting to work on skin, though most of it was coming off by just being in the water itself.

An hour passed and everyone was thoroughly cleaned, so they left the lake and got dry, most people venturing back into the town to see what all had made it. Luckily for them, a lot of the buildings had brick or stone walls, instead of wood, and only the roofs had caught on fire. The poorer houses that were made only with wood were the ones that collapsed.

Aang walked up to a random man from the group of rescued people. "How did this happen? Did an army invade and set the town on fire?"

The man shakily nodded his head and turned around to face his family.

Aang sighed, but then he remembered his encounter with Kang-Dae the night before. His eyes widened and he turned to his friends. It was around nine in the morning, and they didn't have to fight until around five in the evening.

When Katara walked up to him, curious about his expression, he looked at her worriedly and closed his eyes, "Katara, come with me,"

He grabbed her hand and led her a little ways away from the rest of the people. "Last night, when I was running through the town looking for people to help, I ran into someone."

Katara looked at him, confused, "Who?"

Aang took a breath before saying, "Kang-Dae,"

Katara's eyes widened and she asked, "What did you do?"

"I tried to fight him…" Aang muttered, turning his head away from her, "I know I shouldn't have…not without your guy's help….but-"

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No…but we are going to fight him…" Aang muttered, causing an uncomfortable silence between them.

Katara sighed and looked away from him, not meeting his eyes, asking softly, "When?"

Aang looked off towards their friends, "This evening, one hour before sunset."

Katara closed her eyes before opening them and tightening her fists in anger, "Why so soon? We haven't had enough time to rest, you're still hurt, and you haven't recovered from all the exertion you put into the Avatar State."

"I know…I know, Katara, but this is just how it has to be," Aang sighed, looking down at his feet, "If we don't end this now then he'll just be able to hurt more people, and we can't let that happen."

"Fine…" Katara muttered, looking down at her feet, then she looked over at their friends again, "I'll let everyone know, I guess."

"Good. Thank you, Katara." Aang managed to give her a small smile which she returned softly as she walked over to everyone.

A few hours passed and around noon, many townsfolk began preparing large quantities of rice for the groups of people who had not yet ventured back into the town to inspect everything. Luckily, the granary for the village was not burned down, so everyone had enough to eat.

Katara spooned out servings for everyone and took a seat next to Aang as everyone ate. A man and a few of his friends walked up to their friend circle and stood before Aang, looking expectantly at him.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" Aang asked politely, looking up at them questionably.

"Well, it is our understanding that you are going to go fight the young man who set fire to our town…"

"Yes. That is correct," Aang said, slowly standing up to look at them better.

"We would be more than honored to reward your deeds here by prepping you for battle with armor of any sort you would like," The man said, a smile on his face.

Aang smiled, but said, "That is very kind of you, but I think I'll be fine the way I am."

"We have thin armor that can really come in handy. It is called chainmail, and it makes it so that swords or knives cannot puncture the skin." Aang stared up at the man, only thinking with slight irritation that the chailmail would have been very helpful to have had at their last encounter with Kang-Dae.

He smiled nonetheless, "Actually, that does seem interesting, come on guys." Aang waved his friends over and they all walked to the town armory.

Once they arrived, they browsed through the town's collection of armor and weapons. Truthfully, they enjoyed and preferred the supplies they already had, but from the results they got from their last encounter with the energybenders, they decided to at least give them a thought.

After about an hour of browsing, they had given in to a few upgrades they had found. Aang got a thin, but strong, metal covering for his staff. It could be removed at any time, but it greatly helped the sturdiness of it. He also reluctantly took a dagger that could easily be tied onto his belt. Katara, by request from Aang, received a thin chainmail shirt to go under her robe. It covered her chest and abdomen, so Aang allowed himself to relax a bit, knowing she was protected. Sokka had his sword strengthened. Everyone else just stuck to what they already had.

After thanking the men for their gifts, the gaang walked back to their camp.

Buyou ran up to Aang and tugged on his robes to get his attention. After Aang turned, he asked, "So are we really going into battle with Kang-Dae tonight?"

Aang sighed, looking at the condition of their little team, "Unfortunately, yes." He muttered.

"Oh…well, we'll fight with you no matter what, Aang!" Buyou spoke proudly, earning nods and grins of agreement from the other children.

"Thank you," Aang spoke softly, a sad smile on his face. He hated this. They were only children and they were fighting a battle that they had a good chance of losing. All the rest of them were teenagers, though, so that wasn't much better.

"Should we be training? Preparing for tonight?" Suki asked, directing her question to Aang.

After a brief pause, Aang said, "No. I want everyone to go and enjoy themselves. Have fun, play at the lake, play games, I don't care, just…enjoy yourselves."

Everyone looked at him questionably, they would have suggested to train and practice battle strategies. Yet, in the midst of this, when given the option, they would much rather have fun then spend their remaining few hours not in battle training.

And so that's what they did.

Townsfolk brought in Pai Sho sets and other games and all of the children gathered around and played sports. Aang smiled as he saw everyone having fun and entertaining themselves. After awhile, no one was paying attention to him, so he used that opportunity to slip away and bound up a mountain.

He sat on a cliff and got in his lotus position, beginning to meditate. If he was going to win this battle, then he had to clear his mind. He went over everything he knew to be true that may help him in his battle.

Destroy the sword…Not Kang-Dae…Destroy the sword…This will all end…

He repeated that in his mind until it would not leave.

Suddenly furious, he shouted up to the sky, "How do I destroy the sword? Give me some guidance!"

He put his head in his hands and took deep breaths, trying to sort things out, hoping that a past avatar would help him.

Did Guru Pathik mean just break the sword? Like…in half? Or steal it's power? But I thought he said not to steal it's energy. No. He said not to steal Kang-Dae's energy. So, does that mean I have to steal the swords energy? How does that work?

"Gahh," Aang sighed, clasping his hands behind his neck, trying to focus. "I'll just…do what my heart tells me…during the battle."

He glided down the mountain and spotted his friends playing a sport against the younger children of the town. They were losing.

Aang laughed and watched as they kicked the ball across their makeshift game field. The children were tinier and more agile as they kicked the ball in numerous directions around the teenagers. Soon the game ended, 30:4

Aang's mood had greatly increased, but their was still the constant pang of worry that plagued him when he gave their situation too much thought. He watched as the sun passed over the sky, it had to be around mid afternoon, so the time of battle was near.

Around the four o'clock hour, everyone had a small meal of noodles to satiate them during the fight.

Aang looked off towards the clearing in the mountains that Kang-Dae said the battle would begin, he sighed, trying to focus on his friends and on his noodles.

That's when he heard the shouts.

It was all of a sudden. The only sounds had been the idle chit chat that had been going on around the camps.

But it wasn't shouts that he was hearing. No. It was a battle cry. Aang stood up abruptly, staring in fear towards the area he had just been looking. Katara heard the sound, as well as quite a few others in the area.

They appeared to be a black swarm, flooding in through a space between two mountains.

It was Kang-Dae's army.

There was mass panic. Some of the villagers headed towards the town, some hunkered down in fear and screamed for help, others just stood up and ran. Ran, and ran, and ran. Heading nowhere in particular but away.

"No!" Aang shouted, fear and anger in his voice.

Their gaang had stood up and was gathering their weapons or drawing as much of their element towards them. Katara turned to Aang in a panic, "What are they doing here? You said we were meeting them an hour before sunset!"

"I know what I said! He lied to me! It was a set up!" Aang looked at the oncoming army with hesitation, "Prepare for battle, guys…"

He walked up towards the oncoming army and contemplated his first move.

As his friends lined up around him, he scanned them slowly. He looked up toward the mass of soldiers coming up to them doubtfully, knowing that there was no way they could win this.

"Wait…I changed my mind…Stand back," Aang sighed, walking forward with a slight limp from his previous exertions.

Katara ran up to him hastily, "No, Aang, you can't!"

"Katara, there's no way we can take them, let me, It's all going to be fine." He pulled her close and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Now stand back…"

He turned and faced the army, they were getting very close now.

As they got closer, Aang saw that Kang-Dae was in front. He closed his eyes and focused on the cosmic energy of the universe. Quickly his eyes flashed a brilliant white and he spread out his arms. His head started hurting, probably from the overuse of the Avatar State. Air surrounded his arms in a rapid swirling motion. He ran up to meet the army and extended the air out in a massive wave to knock the soldiers back.

It crashed against them and send many of them into the air and the others either into the ground or flying backwards. Kang-Dae blocked the blast and smirked at Aang, stopping and crossing his arms over his chest. Many of his soldiers were up again, preparing to bound towards Aang and the other villagers again, but Kang-Dae called them off with a laugh.

"So I guess my attempt at a surprise attack was a failure? Or are you surprised?" He laughed, spreading his arms out to gesture to Aang.

Still furious and in the Avatar State, Aang tightened his fists and growled, "Why are you here!"

Kang-Dae pretended to yawn and said, "Yeah, I got pretty bored just waiting."

"Send your army back! This has to be settled between you…and me…!" Aang shouted, exiting the Avatar State because it was draining his energy. He breathed heavily, "We will settle this…in that clearing…now. Leave your army and these townsfolk out of it!"

His friends stared at him, shocked by his intensity.

He and Kang-Dae stared each other down for a long time. Kang-Dae scanned over Aang's friends, who were standing firmly in an arch around Aang. He eyed Katara and stared at her in shocked, doubting that she could actually be alive. He glared at her and then spoke to Aang, "Fine. I accept your proposition. Follow me, we settle this now."

Aang growled under his breath, motioning for his friends to follow him as he began to limp forward. Katara jogged up to him, "Aang, you're too weak! Ask for another day! You need to rest!"

Aang continued walking forward, but turned to Katara, "No…This has to end now. Too many lives are at stake. He is too impatient anyways. This battle is happening, but you do not have to fight if you do not want to. It is up to you."

Katara stared at him in shock, "Of course I am fighting, whether you want me to or not! I am staying by your side and fighting with you until the end of this. We will win, Aang."

"I…I hope so," The monk spoke worriedly, "Don't join the fight unless I tell you guys to, okay?"

She nodded in reply.

They walked in a single file line through the mass of soldiers before them, making them seem like they were prisoners of the energybenders. Who knows? Maybe they are.

When they finally made it to the clearing, Kang-Dae called his soldiers off, to head back to the ship, except for a few groups of men for backup. After many grunts and groans and shouts of protest, his army complied and fled to their ship. This left the gaang and Kang-Dae standing on opposite sides of the clearing.

Birds chirped happily above them, giving them a false sense of peace. There was no peace here though, the battle they were about to fight could be deadly.

After a silence, Kang-Dae spoke up, saying, "So, how's this going to start, Avatar?"

Aang gritted his teeth and shouted, grasping his staff tighter in his hand, "Like this!" He bounded into the air, taking is staff and spinning it around him, using it to guide his firebending in a solid slice towards Kang-Dae.

The energybending prince smirked and easily deflected the blow, running to meet Aang where he landed on the ground. They engaged in a simple martial arts fight, trying to kick and punch each other with the occasional blast of an element.

As this was going on, Kang-Dae asked, "So, I see what you said was true," he landed a punch against Aangs stomach, earning a grunt from him, "About the girl being alive."

Aang growled and successfully kicked Kang-Dae's side with a blast of fire, setting his outer robe on fire. Kang-Dae grunted and ripped away the burning fabric, tossing it off and revealing the large amount of armor he had beneath, clasped on tightly to his green under robes. He tried to punch Aang in the face, but he ducked just in time, "How did that happen?"

Aang smirked, wiping away the sweat on his brow, a lot of his energy was gone from the Avatar State, "I healed her, using a technique that you told us about, no less. Works wonders, don't it?"

This was a slap in the face to Kang-Dae, but he didn't let it show. "Yes, indeed it does, Avatar. Just more fun for me I suppose. I've never killed a person twice before."

Enraged, Aang head butted him in the stomach using airbending to propel him. Kang-Dae was sent many feet backwards. Aang yelled at him, "Don't you ever touch her again!"

Katara knew that this battle was going to get out of hand, really fast. She told everyone that they needed to jump in and help. They ran forward and Aang tried to shout to them to send them away, but they ignored him, sending multiple blasts of elements towards him and coming at him with their weapons.

Kang-Dae jumped away from Aang and one at a time fought of their attacks, he tried to get away but they kept on coming. They were about to surround him but he jumped up into the air and landed away from them. "How weak that you have to have your little friends help you out. At least make it even." He then shouted out to some of his soldiers, ordering that nine of them go after the other members of the gaang, one for each of them.

Three of the energybender soldiers ran towards the kids. Without any fear they charged after the soldiers, weapons at the ready as everyone else took on their opponents.

"Lift, Usagi!" Noboru called out as he ran and quickly the little earthbender shot up the ground beneath him, sending him bounding into the air. Noboru raised his mallet and swung down at the first very confused soldier. He was knocked to the ground from the impact and Noboru landed on him, jumping up and down until it was clear the man would not be getting up soon.

Buyou kept himself busy trying to figure out where he could shoot one of his darts so that it would hit skin, not armor. He decided his cheek was his best shot, so he aimed and fired, missing the man's eye bye only a few inches. He had used a pain-pincher dart so the man quickly pulled out the small dart and cupped his face in one hand, pulling out his sword with the other. He started swinging blindly at Buyou, but the little boy was too fast.

Usagi, who was busy shooting rocks at her solider, found time to run and assist Buyou when she successfully knocked hers out with a particularly fast moving rock. She did the same thing to Buyou's soldier and quickly the men were all taken out, laying side by side on the ground. Noboru swung his mallet down on Buyou's soldier to assure his unconsciousness.

The children marveled in their work a few moments before checking on everyone else.

Katara had easily taken out her soldier with a few blasts of ice, and Sokka and Suki's soldiers were knocked out by their knowledge of hand-to-hand combat skills. Toph's soldier never stood a chance against her and Zuko and Mai used swords and knives to finish their job.

Kang-Dae growled at them, surprised by their quickness. Now infuriated by his weak army, he formed a glowing red ball of energy in his fist. Aang at first thought it was fire and was too distracted by its bright glow to notice where it was headed. Kang-Dae's blast was jammed against Aang's stomach, and with a loud 'Oof!', Aang was knocked backwards, a small hole in the fabric on his abdomen was burned away.

Aang grasped at his stomach and let out a groan. Zuko decided it was time to cut in. He ran towards Kang-Dae with his dual swords and set them on fire on the blades.

"Finally, a good sword fight!" Kang-Dae shouted, drawing his sword out as well, setting it aglow with red energy. A few minutes passed as the two fought it out, but every time the swords collided, spurts of energy would shoot off and hit Zuko. Mai tried sending knives at him but he easily ducked away from them.

Toph grew impatient and shifted the ground beneath Kang-Dae back and forth, sending him off balance, but he just jumped into the air and made the ground beneath her shoot up high into the air. She was falling quickly and screamed for help.

Aang, who had regained enough energy to stand back up, shouted, "Toph!" And jumped into the air, catching her just in the nick of time.

The kids tried to triple-team him from three sides but he shoved them aside with a blast of white energy and they were all knocked out almost instantaneously.

"Your friends are getting hurt, Avatar. I never thought you'd stoop to the level of having other people fight your battles," Kang-Dae smirked, easily shooting away anyone who wanted to attack him.

Aang contemplated this, gritting his teeth and growling, "Guys, stay back, I don't want you getting hurt!"

Katara's face grew stern, "No, Aang, I told you, we're fighting with you until the end."

"You all shouldn't even be fighting, it's my duty to protect this world from threats like him. You shouldn't have to be dragged into this!" Aang begged, "Please, stay out of this."

"No, we're not doing this because we have to, Aang. We want to help you!" Katara countered.

Kang-Dae smirked, but then let out a fake yawn, "Can we stop this idle chit chat and get to the fighting?"

Aang growled and in his rage, tried to punch Kang-Dae in the jaw, to shut him up. Unfortunately, Kang-Dae saw this coming and used a blast of white energy to knock Aang many yards away. Every one standing took off to go help him, except for Katara, who's eyes remained locked on Kang-Dae's.

Kang-Dae met her gaze, "So, the Avatar told me he brought you back from the dead…I have to admit, I'm not pleased."

Katara's look of anger turned to one of pure loathing as she gritted her teeth, "We're not trying to please you! You've caused so much pain, this ends now!"

She sprinted towards him, water in hand, shooting quick swipes of water at him, effectively sending him backwards. A somewhat scared look appeared in his eyes as he tried to swipe his sword at her. It slashed across her abdomen and ripped her robes, but the chainmail beneath prevented it from slicing her. After that, she dodged each one and managed to actually hurt him slightly.

This small battle continued on as the others managed to wake up Aang. His tiredness from the exertion of the Avatar State and fighting, and the impact from that attack had knocked him out. This was not a good day for Aang.

Katara was fighting pretty well until she stepped back and lost her balance on a stone. She began to fall backwards and as her arms flailed out to catch her, Kang-Dae grasped onto her wrist. In one swift move, he flipped her onto her stomach on the ground. All she could register at that moment was the sound of a crack and she knew that something bad had just happened.

Her face against the ground, she let out a high pitched yelp of pain. Pain swelled into her right arm and she knew that it was broken. Kang-Dae's grip on her wrist lessened and she yanked it away, causing more pain to flood to the break. He kicked her in the stomach, emitting new pain to her tender wound. She curled into a ball on her side clutching her wounded arm to her chest and gritting her teeth as her stomach wound throbbed. She heard her friends shout her name from the other side of the clearing.

She heard Kang-Dae's laughter amidst her fast breathing and she turned to face him shakily. "See…now this looks familiar, don't you think?" He raised up his sword, clasping the handle with both hands, pointing the tip towards her chest as she tried to scoot back away from him with hardly any success. He raised it, preparing to strike as he shouted, "How many times do I have to kill you, girl?"

She let out a scream of fear as she tried to defend herself with one arm, closing her eyes and trying to turn away. Where she thought she would hear the sound of the sword entering her flesh, she instead heard the sound of metal against metal. Two swords meeting.

Her eyes opened and she saw Sokka standing over her, using all the strength in his body to deflect the blow that would have ended his sister's life. His teeth gritted, he called out to Aang, "Come and get her for me!"

Aang was already sprinting over, his eyes in pure panic. Sokka grunted as his sword shook against Kang-Dae's strength. The energybender prince was mad, "How dare you! She should be dead anyways! I already killed h-,"

"Shut up!" Sokka barked at Kang-Dae, catching him off guard, "You never EVER speak about my sister again. I swear I'll kill you if you ever touch her again!"

Katara's mouth stood agape in partial shock from Sokka's aggression and partially because of the stringing pain she was experiencing in her right forearm and stomach. Aang swooped down and quickly gathered her up in his arms.

"I'm sorry I didn't stop him, sweetie, please forgive me," Aang whimpered out after he had fled from where Sokka and Kang-Dae were dueling it out. Zuko and Suki took their swords to help out as well. Aang sat Katara down against a large boulder jutting out of the ground. Toph and Mai ran over to Katara, whose eyes were threatening to spill with tears at any second.

"Let me see, Katara," Aang said softly to her as he gently lifted her arm into his hands. He pressed lightly down on a spot that he saw dotted with large bruises. She winced almost immediately, pleading that he stopped. He flung his hand back quickly.

Suki had apparently left the small fight going on to help Katara, and Sokka and Zuko were fighting well against Kang-Dae anyways. She kneeled in front of Katara, seeing that she was cradling her arm against her, biting her lip, "Is it broken?"

Katara shrugged slightly, "I'm not sure, I think it may though," she gritted her teeth as she tried to move her arm.

"Alright. Here, me and the other Kyoshi warriors were given some medical instruction, I bet I can set the bone for you," She noticed the bone had popped slightly out of place, "It'll hurt when I set it, but it will heal more properly if it is set."

Katara merely nodded and tried to focus on the sword fight that was going on on the other side of the clearing. After a few minutes, Suki was able to set the bone properly.

Everyone but Katara stood up and prepared to join the battle again.

Aang kneeled down in front of Katara, "Don't fight anymore, I don't want you getting hurt any more." He looked at her worriedly.

"I still have one good arm, I can fight!" Katara countered, meeting Aang's gaze.

"No…Katara, I admire your desire to keep fighting even though it's tough, but please, you've gotten hurt enough for one lifetime," Aang spoke to her, clasping her hands in his, "Just keep your arm still and stay here, I'll settle this, once and for all. No more pain. No more fighting."

Katara was about to try and convince Aang to let her fight, when they heard a loud "Oof!" come from behind them.

"Sokka!" Katara cried as she saw her brother smash against a large tree behind him, slumping to the ground beside it, unconscious.

Aang grunted in anger towards Kang-Dae for causing all this pain, finalizing his small argument with Katara by saying, "Just stay here! Please!" before taking off towards Sokka.

Zuko was still going at Kang-Dae with all he had, but he was getting tired. Kang-Dae just moved too fast, and he couldn't keep up. He had suffered from small burns from their fighting and a few bruises. He somewhat predicted his fate as he too was flung into the trees, hitting his head and being knocked unconscious.

Aang shouted with all the anger in him, "Stop this! They have nothing to do with this! Leave them out of it!"

Kang-Dae smirked, "They're the ones attacking me, so I have every right to fight back."

Aang gritted his teeth in frustration, turning to the last of his standing friends, "Stay out of this…Clear everyone to the sides, I don't want any more of you getting hurt." He closed his eyes and sighed before turning and grabbing his staff. He walked back to Kang-Dae.

The clearing was unnaturally quiet as everyone watched, holding their breaths, as they anticipated the duel that was about to take place. They badly wanted to help, but Aang wouldn't let them.

Aang made the first move, only wanting to end this battle faster. He swung his staff at Kang-Dae with a blast of fire. Metal hit metal as his armor-coated staff connected with the evil sword. Sweat formed on Aang's brow as he battled against the power of Kang-Dae and his sword.

They swung and kicked at each other, burning and bruising each other in the process. The fight dragged on for half an hour with multiple attempts by the gaang to help out. The children and Sokka had woken up after being knocked out, but Zuko remained unconscious because he had hit his head.

Katara had enough. She couldn't stand watching them fight like that, Aang was getting hurt, and she wouldn't allow that any longer. She used her good arm to push herself up from her sitting position on the ground. She ran behind Kang-Dae, sure that he could not see her coming.

Aang noticed her, though, and his fear registered on his face. Kang-Dae noticed this, smirked, and used Aang's distraction to his advantage. He raised up his sword with both hands, ready to swipe it across Aang's torso, but suddenly a cold chill ran down his back. He was suddenly soaked.

Then it was Aang's turn to use Kang-Dae's distraction to his advantange. He swiped his staff through the air with the help of a gust of airbending. It collided with Kang-Dae's sword, and due to his shock, it was knocked out of his hands.

The gust of wind sent the sword flying several yards to the left of Aang. Kang-Dae stared in pure shock at Aang and then took off for his sword.

This was Aang's only chance. If he could get to that sword, maybe he could find a way to destroy it and end this battle. Or…at least the hard part of the battle. All of Kang-Dae's power came from that sword.

Katara had taken to running back to the sidelines. She expected Kang-Dae to rush back after her, but it seemed his rage and terror at losing his grip on his sword was blinding him.

Aang had taken off towards the sword as well, and because of his airbending skills, he made it there first. He leaned over mid-run and grasped the handle of the sword. He knew as soon as he touched it that there was something wrong.

Kang-Dae stopped and stared at Aang in fear as he held the sword.

Suddenly, Aang's vision blurred, and his arm shook rapidly as massive waves of pain wracked through his body. He grasped at his shaking arm with his left hand, trying to stop it. A purple ball of energy encircled his body and his eyes opened wide.

"So…much…power…" Aang muttered, staring off, his eyes unseeing, "It's incredible…"

Kang-Dae tried to run forward and steal the sword away from Aang, but the purple energy that surrounded him acted as a force field.

Aang laughed, partially insane as power coursed through his veins, "This is amazing…" He gritted his teeth and tried to shake out of his insanity, but it came back tenfold. "I feel like I could do…anything…"

He started staggering towards Kang-Dae, whose eyes were wide with fear.

"I'm going to kill you, Kang-Dae," Aang laughed maniacally, his eyes wide and crazed, "I'm going to kill you for all you've done wrong!" He started running forward, the sword in hand.

Katara watched in terror as all of this occurred. He came into contact with the sword and it overtook him that quickly. This wasn't the Avatar State, she didn't know if she would be able to shake him out of his rage. She wanted to try though, despite her fear.

She cradled her arm against her body tightly and sprinted towards Aang, "Aang! Stop! You're being possessed!"

Still Aang pressed forward, the demonic look present in his wide-opened eyes. When she reached him, she grabbed onto his arm with one hand and pleaded for him to stop. His response was shaking his arm from her grasp and pushing her down with one arm.

When she fell to the ground, letting out a small whimper as her tailbone hit the hard packed ground of the clearing, Aang stopped a moment, his expression softening for a split second as he murmured with a pained, worried voice, "Kata-,"

Katara watched him, wide-eyed, as his face contorted with conflicting emotions of rage and concern, fighting against the good and evil in his brain. His face suddenly hardened as he stared her down, an angry expression on his face.

Kill her, Voices saying that phrase filled his head. He slowly sauntered towards Katara, lifting the sword high, ready to strike. Kang-Dae stood about ten yards behind Aang, watching with confusion.

"No, Aang! You're stronger than this!" Katara pleaded with him, she noticed that their friends were calling her name, running towards her to give her help.

"Fight it!" She called out, but her voice hardly affected Aang. He stood over her, preparing to send the sword down upon her, when suddenly, Kang-Dae ran up and grabbed Aang's arm tightly, causing his grip to lessen enough for the prince to knock it out of his hands.

Kang-Dae grasped the sword and ran a few yards away, alittle bit crazed from the lack of his sword.

Aang fell to his hands and knees, his eyes full of shock, his mouth agape. A few moments later, he looked up at Katara, "Oh, Katara, I'm so sorry!" He took her into his arms, and she only hesitated slightly before returning the hug.

"It wasn't me!" He cried, "It was the sword! It implanted horrible thoughts in my head and controlled my every move!" Katara looked at him sympathetically and told him that she didn't blame him.

"It possessed you because you are weak, Avatar," said Kang-Dae, who had obviously gotten over his terror from losing his sword momentarily.

This threw Aang over the edge. Trying to keep calm, he placed his hand on Katara's and quietly told her to go back to everyone else, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek, "I'm going to end this, right now." She nodded silently and with his help, stood up and walked back to the others.

Aang, still in a rage, walked menacingly towards Kang-Dae. His eyes flashed briefly to give him a surge of power to slam Kang-Dae against a tree. Falling down on his back, Kang-Dae gritted his teeth in discomfort, but still smirked up at Aang, who held down the prince by his shoulders, an evil glare in his eyes.

"What are you going to do now, Avatar?" Kang-Dae asked, the same smirk on his face, "Kill me? I doubt it. You're weak, Avatar, weak."

In a surge of aggression, Aang swiftly pulled his dagger out from its sheath on his belt. He hovered the sharpened tip right above Kang-Dae's heart, teeth gritted and eyes burning with rage. Different parts of his mind fought against each other to decide what to do.

Kill him. He killed Katara, remember? He deserves this.

No…No one deserves to die.

Katara didn't, but he still killed her. He murdered her.

Stop!…I know what he did…and he deserves to be punished…but-

So, kill him. Nothing's stopping you, Aang. You are the most powerful being on earth. You only have to lift a finger and he's gone.

I know, but-

Do it!

"No…." Aang muttered aloud, his face contorting with his conflicting feelings. He stood up angrily, glaring down at Kang-Dae and walking away backwards slightly, "Go! Go home to your city and leave the people of the surface alone. I swear I will kill you if you decide to return or harm even one more person."

"No, Aang! You had him! You could have ended it!" Aang heard Sokka's shouts of disagreement from far behind him.

Aang turned his back to Kang-Dae, beginning to walk towards his friends when he saw the glow of red energy behind him as the prince tried to attack him. Aang spun around and thrusted his arms forward in a rage, blocking the energy with a shield of white energy that he learned to form while training with Guru Pathik, "I warned you! But you!" He swung his left arm around in a punch covered in a ball of the same white energy, "Wouldn't!" His right arm did a similar attack, sending a ball of blue energy in Kang-Dae's direction, "Listen!" He thrust his arms forward again, palms forward and fingers stretched out as a massive wave of Kang-Dae's own red energy surged forward.

Kang-Dae tried to block each of the attacks, attempting to conceal his shock from seeing Aang energybend. The wave was too much for him though, pushing him far back against the same tree he had hit before. He hit his head, causing his vision to blur as he looked up, seeing flashes of bright colors shine brightly in his face.

He registered the pain his body took in as each brightly colored blast smashed against him. He gritted his teeth, and as his vision cleared slightly, he noticed Aang walking menacingly towards him.

Sword still in hand, Kang-Dae raised up his arm in defense, but Aang sprinted towards him, knowing he was too hurt to move at the moment. He grasped Kang-Dae's wrist as he held his sword tightly. Aang stared down at the sword, the same possessed look in his eyes as he felt the power calling to him. He didn't feel right, he know not to be entranced by the sword. But…there was just so much power in it…he couldn't help but be absorbed into its power.

He squeezed the prince's wrist until his hand dropped the sword. Kang-Dae tried to grab for the sword, but Aang shoved his hand down against the ground.

Aang bit his lip, resisting the temptation to grab the sword, and he stared down at Kang-Dae. Still too weak now to move, he stared off towards the sword, trying to grab it to no avail.

Aang laughed, still slightly overcome by the power of the sword, "How does it feel, Kang-Dae, so have so little power that you can't even move? Turns out you're weaker than I expected….Just a few direct hits…that's all it took."

Kang-Dae gritted his teeth at Aang, glaring at him in anger, silent.

"I bet you…have a lot of power…hidden inside you…from that sword…." Aang mumbled, still staring at it. Inside, he was trying to pull himself away, but he couldn't move.

Aang silently moved his right hand to Kang-Dae's forehead, and his left hand to the prince's chest. He closed his eyes and concentrated, ignoring his conscience that told him to not energybend Kang-Dae.

Quickly, Aang's blue energy shown out bright, and Kang-Dae's dark green energy battled against it. Due to his skill at energybending, Kang-Dae fought hard and very occasionally, his energy started to overlap Aang's.

Kang-Dae knew that Aang was strong though, on this inside and out, and knew he'd have to think of something fast.

While being energybent, you can hardly move, and if you do, you feel so heavy that there could be liquid lead in your veins. Kang-Dae fought against this, his desire to defeat Aang driving him to lift up his right arm, and slowly, shakily, he grasped the handle of Aang's dagger.

Aang hardly noticed Kang-Dae as he did this, so he made no move to block the attack.

Kang-Dae positioned the dagger towards Aang, and with much exertion, he pierced Aang on the side of his abdomen. The reaction was immediate. Aang lurched backwards, letting out a cry of pain as he stumbled backwards. Kang-Dae regained enough strength to stand up and get a tight grip on his sword.

He went into action, taking quick slices in Aang's direction, which Aang hardly managed to fend off. The young Avatar held one arm tightly against his bleeding wound, teeth gritted as he used his other arm to shoot small blasts of air to fend off Kang-Dae.

The energybender prince laughed crazily as he ran towards Aang.

The rest of the gaang bounded into action, sprinting towards the two to help Aang. Katara first ran to Aang.

I can't move anymore, Aang thought, tears slipping down his cheeks, I've failed everyone again. He fell down backwards, landing with a thud on the ground, It hurts…so much…

Katara immediately began crying in worry, "No!" She muttered over and over as she fell to her knees on the ground, "Don't do this to me! Not again!" She used her left arm to shakily collect water from the air, seeing as though her waterskins were all empty.

As she went to begin healing him, Aang passed out.

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"So…it's the sword's fault that Kang-Dae is so evil?"

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"Coud be. Though it is true that the swords dark power is absorbed by the wielder,"

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"If you must do anything destroy the sword…"

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These thoughts coursed through Aangs head as he tried to focus on breathing in…and out…in….and out… Pain wracked his body, but he could tell that Katara was trying to heal him. His vision blurred out and in, and he was sure that he passed out a few times.

At first, Katara was right over him, her one good arm hastily trying to heal him.

Then, she was gone, but Aang could see flames and earth flying across the air as his friends fought against the madmen Kang-Dae.

Later, he opened his eyes and saw the dim sky above him. The mountains created strange shadows over everything and he tried to focus his mind. There was less commotion now, but he could still hear distant sounds of a battle raging on. He tried to sit up, but it sent a new wave of pain across his torso, and he fell back, unconscious once more.

The last time he woke up, Katara was running towards him. Her clothes were tattered and her hair was in tangled waves along her back. Blood seeped from a large cut on the left side of her forehead and she often tried to wipe it away from her eye. She fell to her knees next to Aang again, her eyes showed pain and worry, but also determination.

She pulled out new water from her waterskin, which must have been filled as Aang was unconscious. Where it came from, Aang had no idea.

Aang had newfound strength though, despite his deep wound. He sat up as quick as he dared and looked Katara right in the eyes, his eyebrows creased in determination, but his eyes showed worry.

Staring back at him, Katara wiped the blood from her forehead once more. As he looked at her, he noticed there were multiple bruises on her face and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Aang, you should be lying down, you're not healed fully yet…" She said in an unstable voice.

Aang looked to his left and saw his friends in similar conditions to Katara, still fighting the energybender prince. "No…I told you I'd end this. I know what I need to do now."

His steady voice shocked Katara, but she placed her hands on his shoulders anyways, saying, "No, you're hurt! I can't lose you again, Aang, I can't…"

"You're hurt too, Katara, and I don't want you or anyone else risking your lives to protect me," He said to her, "I just need you to do one thing for me…"

Katara stared at him, confused, but she nodded anyways, "What do you need me to do?"

"Just stay still…"

Concern showed greatly in Katara's eyes as she tried to predict what he was going to do next.

Her eyes widened as he placed his right hand on her head, and his left over her chest.

"No, Aang! Don't take my bending! What are you-!" Katara said to him in a panic.

His finger silenced her, "Shh….It's just your energy…just stay still….your bending is going to be fine…just…stay still."

As he placed his right hand back into position, Katara began to worry more. Suddenly, both of their bodies began to glow, hers a light purple, his a light blue. Their eyes glowed brightly and Katara could feel the stares coming from their friends and Kang-Dae.

Aang's blue energy started to absorb her energy, and as this happened, Katara could feel herself getting tired.

Quickly all of her energy was absorbed, and she fell backwards. Aang wrapped his arms around her before she fell and gently lowered her to the ground. Her eyes were just barely open and she stared at him silently, slowly breathing, as if she was about to go to sleep. Aang smiled sadly at her and leaned over her to set a soft kiss upon her lips.

He stood up and untied his belt from his waist and removed his robe-like sash. He kneeled down beside Katara and tied his belt securely around her forehead to staunch some of the blood that was seeping from her wound.

He folded his sash so that it was about 6 inches wide and he wrapped it around his middle where his wound was. Despite the severity of the wound, after Katara healed some of it and he received a lot of energy, the pain wasn't very intense.

He walked up to his friends, who, after they got rid of their shock at what just took place, continued to fight Kang-Dae to keep him away from Aang.

Aang took them one by one, starting with the kids, and took their energy from them. He wasn't stealing their bending, just all of the energy they had to keep moving and fighting, the kind that gradually wears off throughout the day. Soon, only Zuko remained, and despite his confusion at what was going on, fought bravely against the energybender prince.

Fully awake, and with a staying power that could keep him going for a week with no rest, Aang bounded into action, flying feet first to kick Kang-Dae in the stomach. The impact of Aang's boots against his stomach send him lurching backwards. Aang also sent waves of air in his direction to keep him away for a while.

He ran up to Zuko, who was catching his breath, and said, "You're all that's left, Zuko, I need your energy to defeat him."

Zuko sighed, "So that's what you've been doing. Getting us out of a job and using our energy for us?" He looked at Aang with an annoyed expression, "Fine, but do it quick, you are bleeding really badly. I honestly have no idea how you are still standing."

Aang refused to look down at his wound, in fear that it would make him dizzy or scared, but he gave Zuko a firm nod and got to work taking his energy from him.

The clearing was suddenly very quiet. He looked about his friends, all of them lying down, too out of energy to move or fast asleep. Aang had never felt so alone, until Kang-Dae came flying towards him, sword poised and ready to attack. Aang knew what to do. His main goal was to get rid of the sword, not Kang-Dae.

Standing firmly on the ground before Kang-Dae, he poised his metal covered staff to block the blow. As soon as the sword and staff met, Aang focused on all of the cosmic energy in the world. Quickly, his eyes glowed, blinding Kang-Dae for a split second because of it's contrast against the setting sun. One hand gripping his staff and fending off Kang-Dae's sword, and one hand trying to grab it.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Aang got a grip on the long handle of the sword, just below where Kang-Dae held it.

Suddenly, the sword set out a flare of colorful energy. Kang-Dae held strong against it, but his eyes suddenly widened in shock. Pain registered on his face and Aang could see that red energy was crawling up his arm from the sword. In a panic, Kang-Dae tried to thrust the sword from his grasp, but his arm was locked around it. As the energy climbed up his arm, he found himself unable to move. Soon, the red energy had encased his entire body, and he lay motionless on the grassy floor of the clearing as it consumed him. The light unexpectedly went out though, and Kang-Dae lay there, breathing gasp-like breaths as he tried to get up.

The sword had stolen his energy.

The prince's hand lay limply open, the sword resting on his palm where he had once been gripping it tightly.

Aang exited the Avatar State, shocked that he hadn't really done much, and timidly walked towards Kang-Dae, thinking, That can't really be it…I hardly did anything…what happened?

Aang stared at the sword in confusion; he walked up to it and nervously nudged the blade of the sword with his foot. Quickly, Aang regretted that decision, because the sword shot out into the air hovering eerily in front of him as swirls of red and black energy circled it.

He backed up slowly but after a few steps he found himself unable to move, his arm moved without him controlling it and reached up to grab the handle of the sword. As soon as his flesh made contact with the sword, a rapid wind formed around them and Aang's eyes locked on the blade as it spoke to him in an eerie spiritual voice.

You have a far greater power now than I could have ever imagined…I intend to use this to my advantage…

Aang couldn't move at all now, and he gritted his teeth as sweat formed on his brow.

A familiar red glow began crawling up his arm and all he could register was an intense burning sensation. He fell to his knees, though it was not his doing. His eyes were wide with fear and pain and he cried out as it crawled up his arm.

Aang suddenly only heard the voice of Guru Pathik in his head, telling him what he had to do…if anything.

Destroy the sword…

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Destroy the sword…

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If only I knew how!, Aang shouted in his mind, but then he came to a realization, he did know how.

Energybending.

Aang did his best to not think about the pain in his arm, but try and find the center of power in the sword. After concentrating for a few moments, he found it exactly where he thought it would be, right in the center of the handle, where a large red glass orb sat, engraved with designs of dragons and ancient writing.

By then, the red energy had consumed his right arm up to his shoulder and he gritted his teeth, remembering the pain. He focused on his own energy and tried to connect the two so that he could fight back.

The pain was so intense though, he could hardly concentrate, but his determination was strong and he continued. His body began to glow and the red and blue energies fought against eachother.

Three minutes of this and Aang's mind was fried. His energy was draining fast, but the red energy had had at least fallen back to his elbow. He suddenly thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the energy consumed him… He was too tired to think straight and it only took a glimpse of Katara out of the corner of his eye to convince him otherwise.

He wanted nothing more than for her to be safe, so he focused on that thought. The red energy quickly began to decease to the point where the entire sword was blue.

Only a few seconds more, Aang!, He told himself, You can do this!

And he did.

The sword was under so much pressure that it cracked in two, releasing swarms of light shooting out in all directions. As soon as Aang had control of him body again, he grasped at his arm in fear, dropping the sword. He expected there to be a large burn on his hand and arm, but all he felt was a tingling sensation that quickly depleted.

His energy was gone though, he could hardly move. The full pain of his wound hit him like a ton of bricks and he crawled over to Kang-Dae, who lay motionless before him. There was something strange about him though. All of the blood had drained from his face, he looked almost as if he was rotting. Aang almost looked away in disgust, until he realized Kang-Dae was trying to speak to him. The prince tried to grab Aang's hand, probably for support though.

Aang stared at the disintegrating young man and his suspicions were confirmed that yes, Kang-Dae was the son of the first prince of the energybenders, meaning that Kang-Dae's father was that prince. After thousands upon thousands of years of not aging because of the sword that gave youth, this boy would turn to dust because of his true age.

Aang grasped Kang-Dae's hand because we wasn't heartless, and the prince gasped out, "I'm not…'s bad….as you th-think…-vatar….Pl…se…forgive….me.." He passed out, as the rest of his body disintegrated into dust. Aang quickly looked away so that he wouldn't have to see it happen. It would surely give him nightmares for the rest of his life.

He looked back and blew off the dust from his hand. He crawled slowly over to Katara who was completely unconscious now. He looked down at his wound and saw that his entire abdomen below the wound and his left thigh were completely covered in blood.

He had seen enough nightmares for a lifetime, and with that, everything went dark.

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The faint smell of Chrysanthemums and other fall flowers brought Aang to his senses. He felt warm, very warm. It smelled like a nice, cool, fall day, and Aang greatly wanted to be outside. Suddenly, a cool sensation spread across his forehead, and he creased his eyebrows slightly, muttering a small moan.

"Aang?" A soft female voice spoke to him, "Are you going to wake up today?"

He didn't have much strength, but he did want to find out who was speaking to him, who the angel was. He was sure that he was dead and in the spirit world, but he could feel some slight pain around his stomach, and that made him realize that he couldn't be a spirit.

He heard the angel sigh, and mutter sadly to herself, "I guess not…"

Katara.

The name came to him suddenly and he greatly wanted to wake up. Memories flooded into his mind and his eyes slid open, light pouring into the slit of is eyes, causing him to shut them again.

His determination to see this angel named Katara drove him to open them again, and as his eyes focused, he saw her. Hair combed, thoroughly clean, and in a soft yellow robe, she sat there. She looked like she was about to cry, and Aang greatly wanted to sit up and hug her and make the bad things go away. That is, until he realized that he was making her cry.

She hadn't yet realized that his eyes were open and he was awake. His limbs tingled, they had obviously not been in use for quite a while. His arms were laying limply over his chest and he slowly moved his right one to touch her hand.

Katara's eyes closed and she let out a soft whimper. A few moments later, she felt the airbender's fingers stroke the back of her hand and she jumped slightly. Her eyes shot open and she immediately looked at Aang, who was grinning at her tiredly.

"My angel…" He muttered, staring at her dreamily, "You're always there when I awaken."

Katara's eyes filled with tears and she jumped at him, hugging him around his shoulders as tight as she could with one arm. Aang couldn't breathe, but he loved her and was glad she was there anyways. A few seconds later she pulled away, "I-I thought you'd never wake up again!" Her eyes were full of concern. That's when he noticed the sling draped around her shoulder, cradling her right arm, which was in a cast.

He looked sadly away from it, but then gave her a soft smile, "I'll always wake up for you."

Katara smiled sadly and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

"How long have I been asleep? Your head wound is completely healed it seems." Aang asked in a raspy voice from lack of use.

Katara sighed, "It's been almost a month…"

This shocked Aang, he thought it was only a week or so, but no, it was a month of his life. Gone. "Really?" He asked, fearing.

"Yeah…" Katara attempted to wipe away the remainder of the tears in her eyes, but new ones formed.

"Man…that's longer than last time…." Aang spoke aloud to himself, "At that one killed me!"

Katara let out a huff of breath as a small laugh, closing her eyes, and shaking her head with a small smile on her face. "I'm just so glad you're back…" She hugged him again, nuzzling her head in the crook of his neck as he stroked her back.

"I'm glad to be back."

A few minutes passed where neither of them said anything, and just embraced, never wanting to let go. Aang had to break the silence though, "Where are we anyways? What happened after I passed out?"

Katara sighed and pulled away, "I can tell you what has happened since we woke up, I guess. I woke up and it was nighttime, I looked next to me and almost screamed when I saw you. You were lying in a very scary pool of blood…" She took a second to shake off the thought, "I quickly got up, but it was hard because all of my energy was gone…" She gave Aang a slightly annoyed look, which he just laughed at nervously, "Well…okay, I did scream when I saw you, and that kind of woke everyone else up. They came to my side and we started trying to help you, because, quite frankly, you looked dead… We saw the sword broken and a pile of unexplainable ashes next to it, so we just quickly buried them and took off here. We're at the Southern Air Temple. We thought it'd be a nice place to take you to heal."

"Really? Well, it is a nice surprise, thank you." Aang said softly.

"You're very welcome. I like it here too, it's very nice." Katara smiled.

Aang smiled at her in response, "Should we go see everyone else then?"

"Yeah," Katara said, standing up, "Good plan. I haven't really talked to any of them in a while anyways…I've been kind of distant…"

This made Aang frown in concern, but he tried to shake it off and focus on happy thoughts. He slid his legs from under the covers and noticed that he was only in his undergarments. Katara immediately blushed, "I-I didn't want you to get dirty being your filthy pants."

Aang smirked, "Then why didn't you put them back on when they were clean?"

Katara's eyes widened in embarrassment and her entire face was flushed red, "Aang!"

Aang laughed, giving her his trademark smile, "You know I'm teasing you, right, Sweetie?"

Katara hesitantly grinned too, nervously laughing as well, "Heh…yeah, I know."

Aang pulled the rest of the covers off and stood up, wobbling a little bit at first, but then regaining his balance. Katara opened a closet in the room and with a small laugh she pulled out a very familiar piece of clothing.

"Haha!" Aang laughed gleefully, "My airbender training clothes!"

"I don't suppose you want to wear them, do you?" Katara laughed.

"Nahh, I haven't worn them since I was a kid." Aang smiled.

Katara, remembering a small conversation they had a while back, said in response, "You still are a kid!"

Aang laughed, "I see what you did there."

Katara smiled and continued to rummage through the closet as Aang looked down at his abdomen, which was encased by a thick layer of bandages. "Hmm…I guess this makes us twins then, doesn't it?"

Katara turned to face him and noticed that he was referencing to their similar wounds, "I guess so," She look down at her stomach in memory, but then she laughed, "Wait, no we're not, I have one more scar than you, I win." She didn't know why that made her "win", but she smiled proudly anyways.

Aang laughed, "Noo, I have my lightning scar!"

Katara grinned embarrassed, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that…"

They shared an awkward moment of silence, staring at each other with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Suddenly, Aang coughed purposefully to break it, and Katara shook out of her trance and said, "Oh, yeah, right." She disappeared into the closet and quickly pulled out a small set of elder monk robes and said, "So, will these do?"

Aang laughed and nodded.

Together, they got him dressed and using teamwork, they made it down the stairs. They greeted everyone and had lunch. Several more weeks passed and Katara's arm was fully healed, as well as Aang's wound. Zuko had to head back to the Fire Nation or else they would have to take away his right to being Fire Lord. He took Mai with him.

Eventually, Aang found himself leaning against the railing of his room's balcony, staring out at the far off sunset. Katara leaned slightly against him and they stood there silently for a little bit.

Aang broke the silence a few minutes later, "So, does this mean everything's over and we can just live now?" He looked over at his love.

Katara grinned, "Nope. We've got one more thing to do."

Aang grinned as well, "And what is that, sweetie?"

She smirked at him.

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A few days later, they found themselves standing on top of a snowy mountain, the four-winged black animals strewn about them in no particular fashion.

"I promised Usagi I'd take her penguin sledding. So, by golly, we had to go penguin sledding!" Katara laughed, as she watched the children race down the mountain on their penguins.

Aang laughed as well. Toph had refused to go down alone, but the kids were more than willing to go with her. In the long run, everyone was having a great time.

As Aang looked down the steep hill, he laughed softly, turning to Katara.

"What do you say? One more go? To start and end these crazy adventures?" Aang grinned his trademark smile and she nodded.

As she smiled though, she added, "Though, anywhere with you is an adventure."

Aang laughed, "Then this can just serve as the start to a whole new series of adventures."

Katara grinned and mounted her penguin, Aang did the same, "Alrighty, Mister Avatar, I'm going to beat you this time though." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, really now?" Aang laughed, closing his eyes for a split second, but opening them very quickly as he heard her depart, "HEY! No fair!" He laughed, watching her speed down the mountain.

He took off as well, knowing fully aware that he was going to let her win anyways.

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Or was he?

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THE END…

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OR IS IT?

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Yeah, okay it is.

A/N – And so, after what…2 years…7 months…and 5 days…This crazy charade is over. There will be an epilogue, but that pretty much just connects it to Korra, and I'll probably just post that tomorrow =)

Please don't yell at me for the length of the wait.

I am aware.

Good and bad things occurred during the 7 month and 5 day wait you all experienced.

I blame Caroline.

Jk, I love you.

Bah.

Maybe you all will just love the fact that this chapter is 16, 543 words long…and forgive me then…

Just forgive me and be glad its over.

Or sad, like I will be in about 2 hours when the realization hits.

Anyways, please review even though you probably all died in the 7-month hiatus between my last update and now….I still lurve you all, and I promise that the next time I post a long story like this, I will finish the entire freaking thing before posting the first chapter. That way I could have consistent but very short breaks in-between chapters…heh.

I love you all.

I'll break out the full list of thank-you's in the epilogue as compensation for my 7 month and 5 day betrayal.

Thank you all for supporting me in this long journey of a story this has been, and I'll see you next time =)

Bai.

Or for Caroline.

DEPLOUUUUUU!