Chapter Four: Musings and Airbending

To my next life:
This chapter starts off like many of the others, with the beginning of a new day. However, unlike others, it starts with our Avatar staring into the sunrise.

The sunrise I speak of was painted with streaks of orange and pink, blending together into the sunrise that Avatar Azuliona gazes unto. It reminded Zuli of the elements; orange for fire, grey clouds for air, the blue sky beginning to show for water, and the green horizon in front of it for earth. The different elements of the sunrise were separate, but also merged. They came together, like a package. Zuli’s thoughts stayed about this topic for quite some time, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. And now another. One on each shoulder, the hands of the two people closest to her. Yilai and Kilona.

“Zuli?” Yilai seemed concerned, and worry was distinctly etched into the features of her face. Zuli looked up.

“Yes?”

Kilona seemed to be sharing the same thoughts as Yilai, and explained. “Well, you seem sort of… I don’t know. Down, maybe. Or just consumed with your thoughts. We don’t know what it is like to go into the avatar state for the first time, or to contact past lives, -we don’t even have past lives- but we are her for you, Zuli. If you need someone to talk to, a shoulder to lean on, just… tell us if you need anything, Zuli. Don’t feel like you are alone in this.”

Zuli had seemed tired and consumed with her thoughts earlier, but now she just felt irritated. “I am alone in this! There is no other avatar! You can try to help, but in the end, you can’t actually help me. Relying on you will just become a bad habit, and won’t help me in the long run. Just leave me alone!” Zuli turned away from her friends, whose features were distorted by different emotions, and ran to the spot where she had connected with Raava. Apparently the stone floor was made of a rock from the spirit world, which Avatar Wan had brought into the human world before he closed the spirit portals. No one went there except for when they tried to meditate into the spirit world.

''Good. No one will disturb me here.'' Zuli closed her eyes and sat cross-legged in the center of the circle. She put her hands together and let her mind wander. I wonder if I was wrong to yell at Kilona and Yilai, one side of her logic seemed to say. ''No! I couldn’t have been. They are not my past lives, and they cannot help me become a fully realized avatar. What I need is someone who has been through what I am going through. I need to contact my past lives. But how? I doubt I could do it without Abbess Jiyana’s guidance,'' the other side of her logic argued.

The Avatar must have some innate  ability to sense when things are about to happen, because at that moment, Abbess Jiyana walked up next to her.

“Zuli, we need to have a talk. Let me tell you about your previous incarnation, Salen. He knew that I would probably be the one to teach you airbending, so he entrusted me with a message for whoever the next avatar would be. There is some backstory involved, so let me tell you the whole, complete story from the beginning.

''I had always wanted to meet the avatar, my senior by six years. I finally got my wish when Avatar Salen turned thirty. I had gotten my tattoo’s five years previously, and was being trained to become the Abbess of the Western Air Temple. The other half of the air nomads, the Eastern Air Temple and its leader, Abbot Ilai, were present there too. Avatar Salen had said that he wanted to tell the two air nomad leaders in training something. Something about the true past of the avatar. The dark side. Me and my counterpart, the Abbot in training, gathered close to hear him. Either me or him would most likely be the one to teach the avatar airbending, so he had decided to tell us this so-called ‘dark secret’.''

We leaned in, all ears as he told us.

''“The Avatar has a great weakness, one that will most likely become a problem for the next avatar. There is unrest in the Water Tribe. Those who stand with the women, agreeing that they should be able to learn waterbending. Healing, at the very least. And those who want to dictate the lives of half of their people. I have a feeling that my successor is going to be female. The unrest in the Water Tribes will most likely end up with blood spilled and allies betrayed. At least one person in the Water Tribe knows of the Avatar’s weakness, and when she goes to settle the unrest, they will desploit that weakness.''

The Avatar can be killed so that they cannot be reborn if they are killed while in the avatar state.

''Raava will be vanquished, and Vaatu will prevail if this happens. The world will settle into an age of darkness, and we will have to wait 9,567 years for a chance at balance. 10,000 years from the moment the avatar was first formed. This must not happen, or it will mean certain death for all of us. Worse than death. I cannot stress how important it is that this doesn’t happen.''

''When you teach the Avatar airbending, you must tell them of this secret. Only tell the people who you would trust with your life. No, make sure you trust them with everyone you loves’ lives. That will ensure that you do not betray the Avatar.” Salen’s voice was full of anxiety, as if he was expecting us to go yell this to the water tribe.''

That night changed my life forever. After that moment, I looked into everyone’s souls, wondering if they were the ones who knew of this. The ones who would use that ability against the avatar. And end the avatar. I also knew my destiny. My destiny was to teach the avatar airbending. My destiny was to help the avatar master the spiritual side of being Avatar. Having a focus in life; a goal that is your dying wish; a dream that pounds through your heart and brain every moment of the day; I felt alive. I knew what I had to do, and I was not afraid to die accomplishing this. And though that is the opposite of what the Air Nomad teachings say helps you reach ‘spiritual enlightenment’, I felt like I had reached my own type of enlightenment. I had a purpose.

And now, that purpose has come to life. I am finally doing my duty to you, Avatar Azuliona. I hope that my story and the story of Avatar Salen will help you along the way to becoming a fully realized avatar. But before I am done, I must give you something. Follow me.” Abbess Jiyana had been kneeling in front of Zuli, but now she bowed and stood up. Her eyes sparkled; it really seemed like, true to her word, having a purpose had changed her for the better.

Abbess Jiyana walked towards the library, a vast building with decorative  whirls of air carved into the stone. Zuli followed, avoiding the gaze of her friends, who watched from a balcony above her. She felt embarrassed by what she had said earlier, but was not ready to apologize.

“Azuliona.” Abbess Jiyana’s voice snapped Zuli out of her thoughts and into the present. “Come here.” Zuli followed the Abbess to a door carved with the symbol of the avatars, Raava surrounded by the four elements. The Abbess drew a thing key, carved with the same symbol, and inserted it into the lock. She jiggled the key around a bit until the lock opened. This room clearly had not been opened in quite some time. Abbess Jiyana held the door open and Zuli stepped in. The Abbess shut the door behind them.

The room was empty, and dark, except for a row of candles and a carved wooden box. Abbess Jiyana walked up to the box and picked it up, handing it to Zuli.

“Avatar Salen said that he wrote down something for the next avatar in there. Only he knew the lock combination, so you will be the only one who knows it now. Think about your past life, and it should come to you.” Abbess Jiyana pointed to four buttons, each with a different element. That was the lock.

Zuli took a deep breath and pictured Avatar Salen. She saw him mastering the elements. First Earth, which was the easiest of them all for him. Then fire, which came fast to, though not as fast as Earth. Now Air, which was the hardest for him, being his natural opposite. And lastly, Water. Water was a little bit easier for him than air, but not much.

Zuli thought for a bit about what combination of elements only the avatar would use as a password. After thinking for a few minutes, she got it. The order of how hard they were for him to learn. Earth first, then fire, water and finally, air. She pressed the buttons in that order, and they moved around until they formed a single sub design. Raava’s patterning. She pressed that last knob, and it popped open. Inside was nothing. The box was empty. Or so Salen had wanted everybody to think. He knew that only his next life would be able to figure out how to find the message. Zuli thought about it for a moment, until a memory came back to her. Strong, thick fingers hiding a roll of paper in the seam between two panels of the box. The fingers weren’t hers. They were Salen’s.

“Zuli? I’m assuming you figured out a way to find whatever is hidden in this box?” Abbess Jiyana had been quietly standing there, waiting for Zuli to find whatever was in there.

Distracted, Zuli had forgotten that the Abbess was there. “Huh? Oh, uh, yes. It is hidden in the seam between the boards.” Zuli pried two of the boards apart, and in between two screw holes, was a little pocket carved into the wood. Inside of that pocket of wood was the tiniest roll of paper that Zuli had ever seen. It was about half the length of her pinky finger, and about as skinny as her pinky fingernail. Zuli gently picked it up and sat down. The words were tiny, and the paper was covered in them. It almost seemed to be bursting with words.

To my next life,

''I am assuming that either Abbess Jiyana or Abbot Yoni has shown you this. They have also told you the story of the night I told them about the secret you now know, and the night I gave each of them a box like this with the same message inside. You most likely will not be able to contact your past lives, but this time is crucial to becoming who you want to be as an avatar. The time before you are a fully realized avatar. This is the wisdom I give you: Remember who the enemy is. Your friends are not your enemy, they are your lifeline. Your teachers are not your enemy, they are your wisdom. Your enemy is those who seek to harm you and those you love. Your enemy is those who aim to usurp the balance of this world.''

''Your duty is not to yourself, and who you want to be. Your duty is to the world, and who you have to be. You may at times have to sacrifice the love of your friends and family, but never let hate define who you are. You are the bridge between the spirit world and the material world. You are the keeper of peace in this world. At whatever cost, you must do your duty to the people.''

''Some of the words that I have written conflict with others, but that does not mean that they cannot all be true. Remember who the enemy is, Avatar of the Fire Nation.''

Zuli sat there and took in all that Avatar Salen had said. She realized that she had to go and apologize to her friends; She needed to finish Airbending training; she needed to… There were a lot of things she needed to do, but one of them was the most important. Right now, what she needed to do was remember her enemy. And her friends weren’t her enemy. She stood up and turned to Abbess Jiyana. “Thank you for all you have done,” She bowed her head and clasped her hands in a sign of respect, “but right now I need to go apologize to my friends.”

Abbess Jiyana had watched her student as she had read and found her way. She was proud of Zuli for doing the right thing. She smiled. It was good to see Zuli happy again. She had only  Zuli look like this once before. When Zuli was three, she had visited the fire nation to meet her future student.

Back to our focus, the Avatar, Zuli was running along the bridges connecting the buildings and banging into nun’s. She brushed past them, briefly muttering ‘sorry’ to some of them, and just sprinting past others. She ran up beside Kilona and Yilai, who were leaning against a railing, talking. Zuli doubled over, panting, clearly exerted from running up and down stairs and over bridges. She managed to get out the important words, though.

“I’m *pant* really *pant* sorry. I was wrong *pant*, I could not do anything without *pant* my two *pant* best friends. *pant*” Yilai and Kilona glanced at each other. They had figured out how to do the thing where you communicate a whole conversation in a look. Kilona put their answer into words.

“We forgive you, but don’t ever do that again! We know you are under a lot of stress, but blocking us out isn’t going to help. So if you do that again….” Both Kilona and Yilai gave Zuli the evil eye.

“I won’t, I won’t!” Zuli hurried her answer, desperately trying to get those evil eyes off of her face.

Airbending:
It was a new day, two weeks later, and after meditation Zuli, Yilai and Kilona headed over to the airbending pavilion. Kilona had found that watching Zuli fall on her but all day was really enjoyable. Abbess Jiyana greeted them and explained what they would be doing.

“Today Kilona and I get to watch you guys embarrass yourself! So, who’s excited?” Abbess Jiyana enjoyed watching the two young airbenders fail at things, much like Kilona. Though mostly the one failing was Zuli.

Kilona’s hand shot into the air, frantically waving back and forth. “Me! Me! I want to see them embarrass themselves! So, what are we going to do to them?!”

“They are going to be doing some practice bouts against each other.” Kilona cheered. Yilai and Zuli’s faces distorted into horror. “So, these are the rules. Number one, airbending only.” This was obviously directed at Zuli. “Number two, no aggressive moves. Traditional airbending.” This was also directed at Zuli, who found a way to do aggressive airbending. Abbess Jiyana had been trying to train her out of it. “And number three, the loser has to be a servant to Kilona all day.” Kilona cackled.

“I cannot wait. So, who’s going to become my servant today?” Kilona’s face was covered in an evil grin.

“I am NOT going to let myself by at your mercy, Kilona!” Zuli was desperate for it not to be her. Being at the mercy of Kilona was the worst punishment a person could receive. Especially when she was cackling.

“Too bad for you, Avatar, I am not going to become Kilona’s servant either!” Yilai and Zuli circled each other as Abbess Jiyana and Kilona sat down on a bench. Kilona day dreamed of what she was going to make the loser do, well Abbess Jiyana took notes on the two’s performances. Abbess Jiyana, unbeknownst to others, was constantly watching Yilai. She had mastered thirty-three of the tiers of airbending, three of which since the avatar arrived at the Western Air Temple.

Zuli shot a burst of air at Yilai, to initiate the fight, and then ran up one of the columns. She jumped from column to column, as Yilai sent funnels and blasts and balls of air at her. Zuli shot a couple back, but mostly just kept avoiding her. Yilai finally had caught Zuli, when Zuli did a flip turn and shot a blast of air in Yilai’s face, causing her to fly backward and smack into the pole. Zuli ran up and announced to the whole temple that she had beaten Yilai. She really should have kept her eyes on Yilai, because as she was doing that, Yilai crawled between her legs, and shot a funnel of air at Zuli, pinning her to the ground. Yilai walked up and stood up on top of Zuli, and even louder, announced her victory to the temple.

“EVERYONE, LISTEN UP! I BEAT THE AVATAR, WHO NOW HAS TO BE A SERVANT TO KILONA ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The nuns enjoyed a good laugh, but the fellow airbenders in training were ecstatic. They all rushed to the scene of the fight, pointing at Zuli. Everyone enjoyed that day, except, perhaps Avatar Azuliona.