The torches of the Firenation Capital's High-Security Prison ignited and sent their light almost uneasily, as though they were embarrassed about something. Firelord Zuko walked through the prison. He had grown up a lot since the time he first became the Firelord. His shoulders were tight, his jaw locked, and every one of his muscles tensed against his robes. But he wasn't alone. Avatar Aang followed close behind. His usual lightness was gone. The air around him reacted faintly to his anxiousness. The Avatar had also grown up from the small 12-year-old boy that he had been. He was now much more confident and poised compared to before.
When they reached the end of the hall, the guard captain bowed.
"Firelord… Avatar… this is his cell."
Zuko stepped forward. Aang felt the moment his friends' breath shifted, and he inhaled sharply. The cell door, while closed and not entirely destroyed, was damaged and appeared to have been slightly melted by high temperatures. The walls also bore marks of extreme heat and dark ash patches.
"This wasn't firebending. Not normal firebending, anyway," Aang observed.
Zuko swallowed hard.
"No. It wasn't."
"Could you do this?" Aang asked.
Zuko didn't answer and instead stepped inside. The air was warm, which was strange given the usual coldness in the prison. Zuko knelt and brushed his fingers over the blackened stone floor. He furrowed his brows and thought hard about reasons, consequences and logical explanations. And most importantly, he asked himself, where Ozai was.
"Cold," he murmured. "This should be cold… but it isn't."
Aang placed a hand on the wall.
"Zuko… he didn't break out. At least it doesn't look like it. Someone would have seen him leave, or guards should have been knocked out in some way. No one experienced any form of discomfort."
Zuko stood up slowly. He clenched his fists in anger and frustration.
"He was powerless. He should've been weaker than a normal human, even without bending. I took every precaution. I... How could this be? A pot?"
Aang rested a gentle hand on his arm.
"This isn't your fault, Zuko. Whatever happened here… we will find out and deal with whatever it means. Like we always have."
The guard captain looked between them nervously. Technically, this was his failure to secure the prisoner. But after years of service here, he hadn't even seen the former Firelord, and from the reports, Ozai never made a sound or caused any problems.
"What are your orders, my Lord? Should we alert the Council? The generals? The public?"
Zuko exhaled slowly, calming down after hearing his friend's words. Aang was right. After the large Republic City project, they had a lot on their plates and couldn't afford a panic or a coup of any kind. Republic City was coming along nicely, and he didn't want to jeopardise it.
"No. Absolutely not. This stays contained. Only those who must know… will know. If we aren't careful, the Firenation and, in the worst case, the other nations as well, might make demands and ask questions. I was already lenient in letting my father live, but if he now grows in political power again..."
"The world shouldn't panic. Not without knowing what he's after and who saved him," Aang nodded.
"Aang… if he's regained his firebending... can you stop him again?" Zuko asked.
"Zuko, there is no way Ozai could have regained his firebending. I used energybending to take it away," Aang assured.
"Why would he leave, then? After all these years… why now? And what would anyone want with him? He is an old man."
"Maybe," Aang said quietly, "because he finally can."
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.
"Maybe he never got the chance to, and now that he can, he chose to take that chance. It's not very nice down here, after all."
"Let's hope that's all there is to it. It still doesn't explain why someone would free him. All my father could do was bring discord, and now, without his bending, he can't even present himself as a strong leader anymore."
"Whatever the case, we will handle it. Together."
"Together."
.
.
Ozai travelled on foot. After disappearing from the Sun Warriors, he teleported to a volcano and then started to walk. He had become an old man, despite not feeling like one, after his enlightenment. Every step brought him farther away from the Fire Nation, moving across the sea, taking ordinary boats and travelling very light, until his feet touched the ground of the Earth Nation.
He had no actual goal in mind, only to travel and find information about Combustionbending. Through the Essence of Flames, he could already control combustion, but he would have liked to still know about it, considering the requirements.
It was an enlightening and enjoyable experience for Ozai. He finally understood his brother Iroh's obsession with doing this. Eventually, Ozai's journey took him to the Si Wong Desert. It was a feeling which had led him here, telling him that the knowledge he sought would be found here somewhere among the grains of sand.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Ozai too long to find what seemed to be calling out to him. At roughly the middle of the Si Wong Desert, Ozai felt spirit energy flowing somewhere. The remains of the energy were minuscule if anything, but they were there. Not knowing what else to do, Ozai once again entered meditation and began searching for the origin of that energy.
Ozai inhaled and exhaled, then used his spirit to follow the few remaining particles of energy. With a whisper, his spirit appeared in a different dimension. Without knowing it, he had entered the Spirit World. He opened his eyes, having felt that he was at his destination. He felt different here, even freer than he had been before. As he looked up, he saw a large structure that looked like an upside-down building hanging from the ceiling.
He didn't think about it and flashed up, arriving at the top in a heartbeat. Ozai looked around, seeing endless shelves and, weirdly, foxes who were taking and storing books and scrolls.
"Fascinating. Knowledge, presented on a silver platter. That alone is a red flag. Nothing ever presents itself on a silver platter."
A dark shadow arrived, and a second later, a large owl landed in front of Ozai, looking down on him.
""Interesting human. You have more sense than most of your kind, at least.""
"Greetings. I assume you are the keeper of this library?" Ozai asked.
""Indeed.""
"That's great. I am interested in--"
""Of course you are. You are interested in gaining power and regaining lost glory to conquer and bring death and destruction.""
"That's not--"
""I know all about you. But sadly for you, I no longer allow humans in my library. The last one who came here hasn't left just yet.""
Ozai looked to the side and saw the skeletal remains of a man, slumped against a bookshelf. Ozai, however, was unbothered by this sight. It was as he thought. Nothing came for free.
"Is there no way to gain entry? If this man managed, there had to have been one, no?"
""At least you aren't entirely stupid. Yes, there was such a way. In return for information, I did not know, new knowledge, I allowed humans to venture and learn from my library. But those are the old rules.""
"I see."
""Besides, what does an old man, like you, who lost his bending and fell from grace, wanna-be conqueror, going to teach, Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things?""
"Ah, so you know me. Interesting. But, as it happens, things changed, and I have reached enlightenment. I have come to understand the Essence of Flames, and I am willing to show you some of it, should you allow me to roam these halls a bit."
""Is that so? And pray tell, how would you do that?""
"You would have to wait and see. So, do we have a deal?" Ozai asked.
""Hmhmhm... very well. 'IF' you manage to bend here and demonstrate it to me, while also explaining some of the knowledge you gained from your 'enlightenment', I am willing to allow you to remain here.""
"Great. Then allow me."
Wan Shi Tong was amused. He naturally knew what had happened to Ozai and that he had his bending taken away by the Avatar using enerybending. But what's more, there was another reason why the spirit was certain that Ozai wouldn't be able to bend. They were, after all, in the Spirit World. Wan Shi Tong's amusement came to a sudden halt when a small ball of fire appeared before Ozai.
""What?!""
The ball of fire changed shape, forming a ring of fire around Ozai. Then, the flames shot upwards, creating a column of fire. After a few minutes of playing around with the flames, Ozai stopped and looked at the ancient spirit, waiting for it to say something.
""...""
"..."
""...""
"So how was it?" Ozai asked.
""How did you do that?"" Wan Shi Tong asked.
"It's an advanced technique of shaping the flames to my desires. It took me a while to reach this, but--"
""Nonesense! It should be impossible for you to bend in the Spirit World!""
"Huh? Why is that?" Ozai asked.
Unlike his brother, Ozai was far less versed in the spiritual side of the world and didn't know what the spirit was talking about.
""Even if we ignore the fact that you managed to somehow regain your bending after the Avatar took it away, you are in the Spirit World.""
"So? I told you that I reached enlightenment and regained my bending and more."
""That's not what I mean. The only way for you to be able to bend in the Spirit World would be if you were here physically, with your real body. You not only didn't do that, but you also didn't use any arm and leg movements to bend.""
"I see. It must be a byproduct of my understanding, then."
""So it would seem. How very peculiar. Very well, a deal's a deal, human. Tell me what you have learned.""
.
Ozai began explaining what he went through to Wan Shi Tong, trying to make it as simple as possible. But even that was far too confusing for the spirit to understand. It wasn't that the words Ozai used were hard to understand; it was more of the opposite, that there weren't really any words to describe the Essence of Flames. Eventually, after trying again and again, Wan Shi Tong had to admit he didn't understand it and gave up. So Ozai was free to roam the library to his heart's content.
Ozai wandered deep into the labyrinth of shelves, moving between the ancient tomes which fascinated him. He did not rush to find what he was looking for; he had time after all. He paused at a section devoted to the origins of lightning bending. Scripts penned by firebenders who lived long ago, who described lightning as the separation of yang from yin. Ozai already understood this concept and could do it, but it was still interesting to read the initial thoughts of those who didn't have the privilege of learning from generations of firebenders. There was something free about their thoughts and ideas, since no one told them what they couldn't do. Ozai sat on the ground, reading by the glow of a small flame he had created, which now hovered over his shoulder.
He came to read about different hand movements to separate yang from yin and create lightning, and even those who didn't want to use any hand movements at all, but used the ambient electricity during storms.
Ozai found scrolls detailing combustionbending, which interested him. They spoke of intense mental focus, of bending chi through the mind's eye, and then pushing it outwards. Apparently, few survived the training, but that made sense, and even fewer mastered the bending.
Eventually, Ozai flashed back into his body and then appeared in the library physically. He didn't want to have to bother with someone finding him outside and taking him away. That would be bothersome. Food wasn't really a problem anymore, either, since he could nourish himself using flames of any kind. Even heat was possible, granting him enough energy he needed.
It was energybending which interested Ozai the most, though. He saw a lot of potential in energybending and considered granting and taking the potential to bend fire to others. He had dived deep into his new understanding and capabilities and realised something wonderful. His ability to move 'through flames' was of particular interest to him. Zuko had found his own path, and so did Azula. The world was fine without former Firelord Ozai, and he didn't have that much interest in travelling around the world forever.
Ozai had come to understand that, using energybending through his Essence of Flames, he should be capable of travelling far beyond his current world and reality. Flames were a concept which transcended the different nations of the world and even the Spirit World. He could feel the flames far, far away, but to get there, he first wanted to master energybending.
So, once again, Ozai began meditating on his progress and understanding.
.
Ozai sat in a meditative pose beneath the Wan Shi Tong's library. A lot of time had passed. All around him in the air, countless embers and small balls of what looked like air floated. A tremor pulled Ozai out of his meditation. Earth rose around his body and encased him fully, leaving only his head free. Surprisingly, the embers didn't disappear, but remained as they were.
An unfamiliar voice echoed through the area.
"Ozai... don't move."
Ozai opened his eyes and looked at the man with a blue arrow on his head and the clothes of an airbender.
"Moving happens to be rather difficult right now," Ozai said.
Avatar Aang stepped out of the forest, holding his hands at his sides and ready for action. Ozai saw his eyes, telling him how serious he was. It seemed that the memory of what Ozai had done during the war hadn't left the middle-aged man just yet. But it was also obvious that the Avatar wasn't afraid of Ozai or too worried.
Around Ozai, the small flames continued to drift, which caught Aang's attention. Even trapped in stone, they did not extinguish, leaving the experienced bender confused. Aang's eyes narrowed.
"I've heard rumours. A strange human roaming the Spirit World, bending fire and causing explosions and storms. A man vanishing into flames. I didn't want to believe it, but you truly have regained your bending. I thought someone freed you, and so did Zuko. How did you regain your bending?"
"A lot of time has passed since we last saw each other, Avatar. You aren't the highest authority on what is and what isn't possible concerning bending. I have come to understand fire; you haven't bothered to try."
Aang didn't say anything and only observed the old man before him. Despite being contained and unable to move, Ozai didn't look concerned or bothered in the slightest. If anything, Aang felt like he was looking at the young Ozai when he was 12.
"You're planning something, aren't you?"
Ozai shook his head slowly.
"I plan nothing, Avatar. Not anymore. I have achieved what I wanted and am ready to move on."
Aang didn't believe him. He reached out with his hand, attempting to bend the air and move the 'bubbles' of air out of the way, when he felt danger.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ozai stated.
"What?"
"You shouldn't bend those using air. Unlike what it looks like, those aren't merely air bubbles. Those are compressed forms of fire, my very personal application of combustionbending. Those are combustion spheres. If you change their shape or form, they will explode."
Aang's eyes widened. And yet, he still didn't believe the old man, thinking that such a thing wasn't possible. So he tried to move one of the bubbles. In that very moment, the sphere combusted, and an explosion engulfed the area. Aang entered the Avatar State and protected himself from any damage.
Seeing Ozai free and unharmed, he acted right away. He used earthbending to constrict Ozai's movement and repeated what he had done decades ago. He attempted energybending.
Aang's spirit roared in the Avatar State, like a tidal wave and crashed against Ozai's. Ozai let it happen, not bothering to move or stop the process, having already figured out the easiest way to go about it. In that moment, the Avatar's spirit touched Ozai's, and something strange happened. Ozai's spirit felt like a roaring, endless flame that swallowed everything whole and burnt it to a crisp.
The flames around the Avatar swelled, using his energy and spirit as fuel to grow more powerful, causing Aang to stagger.
"What... what is this?" the Avatar gasped.
Ozai's voice was calm, despite the situation.
"I have spent decades learning the nature of flame and have become one with it. True flames cannot be taken or suppressed, Avatar. You should have remembered the danger of using energybending. Your own spirit needs to be unbreakable and stronger than mine, which right now... it is not."
Aang, fearful, pushed harder, using all the power he had access to and all the support he had through the Avatar State. But it didn't work. The fiery spirit that was Ozai didn't relent; instead, it advanced, taking in more and more. Aang clenched his jaw, pouring all the power of hundreds of lives into the spiritual hold.
Finally, Aang collapsed to one knee, panting and defeated, but alive. He had his eyes opened wide in fear and panic. Ozai stepped forward, moving through the sand created by the clash of their spirits.
"What... what did you... do?" Aang asked weakly.
"I have taken away your bending."
"What? How?"
"When you go through with energybending, you either win or you lose. I refrained from killing you, which is me paying you back for not killing me back then."
"Raava..."
"Yes, the spirit which was fused with you. Don't worry about it, it will reform soon."
Ozai placed a hand on Aang's shoulder. Not out of cruelty or triumph, but because he understood the helplessness Aang felt right now. And then, he did something Aang never thought he'd see the former firelord do; He smiled. A real smile.
"Tell Zuko that I'm sorry and proud of what he has become."
Before Aang could speak, Ozai's body turned into flames, and he vanished. Now, he had not only mastered energybending, but he was also ready for his next journey. A journey that will take him away from the current reality he was born in and into a new one.