A Different Destiny

Chapter 6

Moments later the catacombs melted around Aang and he was surrounded by darkness. Slowly a giant fluorescent outline of himself rose up in front of him. The indecision that had surrounded him before was gone, he knew what he needed to do. As he approached his glowing form, images flashed around him.

Katara, when she first found him in the iceberg, wondering if there was something more to the boy with funny tattoos.

Sitting around the campfire with Katara and the rest of the Gaang, listening to tales of the water tribe. How Gran Gran would make a special Ocean Kumquat dessert for the festival of lights every year. It was a tradition she had brought from the Northern Tribe.

Fighting side by side with Katara through countless enemies, knowing that even though he was alone- the last of his people and the only avatar, he still had family somewhere. As he got closer, he stumbled as a cry rang out through the mental chamber. Aang's consciousness processed that it was Katara and his friends yelling out.

Aang gritted his teeth and with every ounce of willpower he possessed he let them go. He knew it had worked, because the darkness went away and was replaced by a blinding white light.

The Dai Li sent rockets flying at the structure, Katara worried that it would crumble under the vicious assault. It held, the rocks bursting into dust as they hit the tent. Moments later the crystals began to glow a deep jade color and the top of the tent burst apart as Aang began to rise through the air, eyes alight with the spirit of hundreds of past Avatars. As Aang gained more height the air began to swirl around him like a tornado. The Dai Li agents raised their forearms over their faces to shield themselves from the swirling debris.

"Get behind me!" Toph yelled. The group had been somewhat spread out in the catacombs at this point, each taking on a different chunk of Dai Li agents. Luckily, Aang going into the Avatar State proved enough of a distraction for the group to reassemble behind Toph. They watched as the air around Aang began to swirl like the beginnings of the storm. Katara breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Zuko who was nursing his wrist which was bent in a weird direction.

"Hey what happened?" Katara asked, reaching for Zuko. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's nothing, we can take of it later. I'm just happy for the slight break." he said, nodding towards Aang.

Aang had sent a wave of earth towards the Dai Li, between the gusts of air and the wave of earth the Dai Li agents hit the walls of the catacombs with a sound thud, rendering most of them unconscious. Azula, however, had managed to side-step the action, watching with mild amusement as her foot soldiers took the brunt of the assault.

Despite the bending superforce in front of her, Azula smiled, shooting a stream of blue flames at Aang. Aang neatly diverted the flames, and sent a burst of water flying at Azula. Even in the Avatar State, Azula was still a force to be reckoned with. She flipped over the water, landing in an offensive stance. Aang raised his arm to unleash another bout of bending at her, when a boulder roughly the size of Appa dislodged itself from the walls and went spinning towards Aang.

The few agents that hadn't been knocked out were mounting a brute force attack against Aang. The Dai Li usually relied on precise forms of earth bending, relying on accuracy and strength to overcome their opponents. But facing off against the Avatar State didn't leave much room for precision.

Aang easily moved away from the boulder, turning his attention away from Azula for a moment. A moment was all she needed. Azula took a deep breath and began moving her arms in fluid motions. From across the cavern, Zuko could see what his sister was doing.

"LOOK OUT!" Zuko screamed across the cavern. Aang turned and recognized what Azula was doing, but there was no time. A bolt of blue lightning shot from her fingertips towards Aang. He put his hands out in a defensive position. Katara didn't know if Aang knew how to redirect lightning in the Avatar State. He didn't.

An inhuman sound left his lips and the whole room was cloaked in darkness. In the darkness, a figure was suspended in the air, glowing white as energy coursed through the being. Katara could've sworn for a moment that she saw- Suki? Except this person was much bigger, she must've been over 6 feet tall. For a moment the glowing stopped, then Aang/the Suki look alike began to fall. Katara couldn't follow with her eyes where the figure was, everything was happening too quickly around her.

"We have to help him!" she yelled, throwing herself forward.

Zuko caught her wrist. "Katara wait!"

She turned around to tell Zuko to let her go when there was an explosion in the catacombs, knocking her off her feet and into oblivion.