"So, that's where you lived a century ago?" Katara asked, sitting on the edge of Appa's large saddle and looking off into the distance. She saw a magnificent temple atop a mountain.
The place was dreamlike, surrounded by towering peaks and billowing clouds that cloaked the buildings.
The Southern Air Temple. Aang sat on Appa's head and looked longingly at the temple. The last time he had seen it was a long time ago. He knew now that no one he knew was there, that no one expected his return, that no one missed him.
Still, he wanted to take a look at it. So, his first goal during his trip to the North Pole was to stop here. He wanted to see where he had grown up and, to some extent, reconnect with what he had lost.
"Yes, it used to be full of people. You could see a lot of monks like me flying their gliders around the peaks. Flying bison like Appa were our friends and shared the sky with us," Aang said before gently touching Appa's head.
"What I don't understand is how they managed to breathe properly here," muttered Sokka, who was feeling slightly dizzy due to the thin air at this altitude. However, his stocky build was easily adapting to it.
"Airbenders have good lungs. How could they not, when they constantly manipulate air?" Katara said to her brother. He rolled his eyes at her sarcastic tone.
"So the Waterbenders' bladders are good? I mean, they can make water naturally..." Sokka dodged a stream of water thrown by his sister, but his smile only grew bigger.
"I wonder if I compete with Shisui to see who can pee the farthest, will he cheat with Waterbending?" asked Sokka. Although Katara turned red from her brother's strange words, her thoughtful posture indicated that she was considering the question.
"Shisui likes to integrate as much of his element as possible. I don't doubt that he does that. He's childish and cheats," complained Aang, remembering how, in the Spirit World, he and Shisui played games.
But when Aang took advantage, the Sage would suddenly pull out a rule that made Shisui look like the victor.
'Shisui is a bad loser,' Aang thought, before his body jerked due to Appa's landing.
"Good! We've arrived," said the Avatar before jumping off Appa's head.
The wind obeyed his command, slowing his fall and making him look like a leaf floating in the breeze. When he hit the ground, he took a deep breath, causing a rush of air as he sighed.
"Finally...home," Aang muttered sadly, looking at the fallen leaves on the platform where he had landed.
In the past, it was almost impossible to see this kind of mess; there was always an Airbender in charge of using the wind to clean up fallen leaves and other trash.
"Do we have to climb all the way up?" Sokka looked up the entire path he had to follow and felt uneasy. He reached into a bag slung around his waist.
After taking a piece of seal meat out of the bag and taking a bite, Sokka rested the shaft of his spear on the ground before looking at Appa. Appa had lain down and looked like he wanted to take a nap.
"Wouldn't it be better to go straight up with your furry friend?" he asked. Aang shook his head.
"No, you should climb up yourself. There's no point in burdening a companion when you can struggle on your own," replied the Avatar. He grabbed Katara's hand and started to run, pulling her along.
"Come! I'll show you where I used to hang out with my friends." Aang guided Katara down the path, ignoring the weeds and lack of maintenance. He ignored the cracks in the path and the scorched, bare trees.
He simply didn't want to think about the fate that befell his people after he left. Although he no longer had anything against the Fire Nation, he still resented Sozin for his ruthless actions.
'If I had stayed...' That thought flashed through his mind, but reason and guilt made him realize that if he had stayed alone, he would have died young and been unable to play his role as Avatar.
Now that he was here, it was his duty not only to bring balance but also to guide the people. For this, he thanked Shisui for his mental preparation and education in the spiritual world.
Though he would forever follow the ways of the Air Nomads, he knew how to adapt them to the changing times unleashed upon the world by his friend the Sage before his awakening. Back then, Shisui had given him some good advice: 'Don't be rigid; you are air.'
"Look, we were playing a game here. Only Airbenders can do that," Aang said after running around for a while. He pointed to a group of wooden pillars, but neither Katara nor Sokka understood.
"I'd invite them to play, but there's no point. They couldn't participate," Aang complained quietly before his eyes caught sight of another location nearby.
"Oh, yes! That's where the flying bison were resting. They snore quite loudly, so they had to be away from us at bedtime," Aang explained. But Sokka wrinkled his face slightly, remembering something important.
"Aang, you snore loudly, too," the young man pointed out. This made the Avatar's face turn red with embarrassment.
"I don't snore!" Aang shouted, but Katara and Sokka burst out laughing at his reaction.
"Don't worry about it, Aang. Keep showing me more places," Katara said, tightening her grip on his hand slightly and making him excited again.
"Come on," Aang said, leading them as he stepped over the accumulated snow on the ground.
The three of them came to a series of rock-carved installations. In front of them was a statue that made the Avatar's eyes widen in amazement. He led his friends before the statue and bowed deeply.
"He is... Gyatso. The closest thing to a father I've ever had. The Air Nomads had specific traditions regarding procreation. Only at specific times did the men and women of the temples meet to procreate.
Depending on the baby's gender, it was assigned to a particular temple. The parents were generally very unconcerned about their children. A boy might never see his mother or sisters.
"I don't know if that system is appropriate anymore, but it allowed me to meet my mentor, Monk Gyatso. He is the most important person in my life. He taught me, encouraged me, and ultimately revealed who I am. Aang pointed out the blue arrows tattooed on his arms, legs, and head.
"Plus, he made the tastiest cupcakes of all the Airbenders," said the Avatar, remembering the flavor and smoothness of those cakes he once tasted.
Luckily, he knew the recipe. After giving the statue a long look, Aang continued on his way, followed by Katara and Sokka, who remained silent.
"He's taking it very well," Sokka said quietly to his sister. She nodded slightly.
"It must be hard to be the last of your kind... even if he doesn't show it, maybe he's hurting," Katara replied. Instead of going after Aang directly, she kept her distance, giving the Airbender his space.
She would hug and comfort him later. For now, Aang had to go through this situation by himself, though he could count on her support if needed. As she thought of ways to help clear the Avatar's sadness, Katara's cheeks flushed.
'Don't think about that,' she said to herself before stopping beside her companions in front of a huge door.
"What a weird lock," Sokka commented on the odd door mechanism.
Although it looked somewhat ruined by time, the large metal tubes remained in good condition, albeit rusty. A leafless tree twisted as it clung to the wall around the arch of the door.
The mechanism's tubes ended in two horn-like openings. Though Aang looked quite small in front of the large door, his determined stance did not waver.
"Only an Airbender should be able to open the Air Temple shrine doors. Gyatso told me that I would meet someone here when I opened them." I thought it would be hard for someone to live that long.
"But after meeting Lao Ge and learning about the technique that allows one to live that long with absolute control of their body, I've heard from Shisui, who touched on the concept of life. Even Zuko told me about his great-grandfather, Sozin, who extended his life using Firebending...
"This world has several ways to extend life. Even I survived for a long time, though I barely grew and was essentially frozen during that period," said Aang before adopting a standard airbending stance.
"I don't know who I'll meet here, but I want some answers." Aang took a deep breath before thrusting his hands forward and launching two blasts of wind toward the two openings.
The air coursed through the pipes, triggering certain mechanisms and producing sounds. Three pieces twisted like a snail's shell, spinning and emitting hissing sounds.
With each turn of those pieces, a different piece with red and gold colors turned as well until the last one did. The door swung wide open without anyone's active control.
It was dark, and the sound of their footsteps echoed quite a bit in the room. However, the dim light allowed them to see a marvel: There were lots of statues of different figures with different styles of clothing. Aang recognized them easily.
He had met them before; these were the Avatars, they were his other lives. The statues were arranged in a spiral from a darkened spot at the top of the shrine to the end, stopping at the last recorded Avatar, Roku.
"Old Man, your statue sure is ugly," Aang scoffed. He knew Roku could hear him, but he didn't make a big deal about it. He got along well with his past lives. Some were stranger or grumpier, but overall, they were one big, strange family.
Then, they heard a strange sound and looked toward the door. Something was approaching, and, judging by the angle of the incoming light, only a huge shadow was cast.
Sokka immediately got into a fighting stance, holding his spear with both hands. He channeled chi into his muscles, which grew slightly. He was ready to attack at any moment.
Even Katara and Aang assumed fighting stances until the entity soon revealed itself. It was a large and ruthless... Flying lemur? The animal had white fur, a black face, a long tail, and huge green eyes. It stared at the three humans in front of it.
"A lemur... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Aang burst out laughing at the bizarre situation that had unfolded.
Attracted by the laughter, the lemur ran toward Aang, turning its head and glaring at the Avatar. Seeing this, the Airbender reached down, placed his hand on the animal's small head, and petted it.
"You must be lonely. Are you coming with me?" Aang asked. As if understanding, the lemur squinted and enjoyed the human's caresses.
"You should name it," said Katara, who felt the animal was very cute. She already wanted to name it, while Sokka simply clicked his tongue.
"Reserve food doesn't need names." When he said that, a small object hit him on the head, and the lemur grunted.
"He hit me with a peach heart!" Sokka complained, looking at the ground where the projectile had landed.
"That's a good name. You'll be called Momo. How about Momo of the Momo Dynasty? Your Momo-ness." Aang burst out laughing when he saw Momo raise his chin arrogantly before taking Aang's hand over his head and pulling it back.
"It looks like he wants to take you somewhere. Shall we follow him?" Katara asked. Aang nodded.
"Where do you want to take me?" Aang asked curiously. Under the lemur's guidance, they came to a shattered but unusually clean area.
Behind a mound of earth was a huge rock with words written on it that seemed to have been burned in, as if made of molten stone.
"Here lies Gyatso, a renowned airbender, spiritual teacher, and, in the end, warrior. He perished at the hands of the enemy, but not before killing all of his attackers by creating a vacuum where there was no air.
Even though we were on opposite sides, the Fire Nation recognizes his contributions to the world. We can only hope that tragedies like this never happen again. But war... war never changes.
We can only hope that we all learn from this man and achieve peace. Signed, the Fire Lord Azulon, who had heard stories about this legendary figure since childhood."
Aang read those words quietly, and a pang of pain arose in his heart.
Unlike his canonical self, this time Aang simply let the tears fall onto Gyatso's grave. Soon, he felt a pat on his shoulder and heard a voice.
"Don't cry, my disciple. Rejoice, for we were able to meet one last time," the voice said. Aang watched as an old man manifested in front of him, smiling, before fading away.
"That was..." Katara muttered, amazed at what had happened.
"A GHOST!" Sokka shouted, causing Katara to slap him on the back of the head.
Her brother was mature in some ways and foolish and childish in others, but his actions made the sad Aang smile. Yes, he shouldn't cry because he got to see Gyatso one last time.
With that realization, Aang bowed deeply to his master's grave.
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AN: Lao Ge's immortality technique, which Kyoshi later learned, does not require one to be an earthbender. It involves extreme control of the body and, probably, the Chi. It's crazy how it works. It's essentially filling in empty spaces and controlling every component of your body without allowing them to change.
I found out today that Firebending can extend your life. I had proposed the idea of purification and healing by fire, haha!