Chapter 24

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I spend weeks in Ba Sing Se, fighting in the arenas every now and then, as I tried to figure out where to find a spirit that wasn't the spirit of the moon, to teleport me into the spirit world.

If my powers of empathy… god that sounds lame, were as bad as the spirit cat had said, being in an environment where everyone feared me, hated me or similar was going to be a problem for my meditation. I had need of a spirit that didn't have a fucking civilization around him.

That or Aang, and well… I knocked him out the last time we saw each other, so is pretty obvious I have to rule out that path.

But where…. my canon knowledge was much to my dismay rusty, I remembered bits, the important bits, like Aang winning and important plot related stuff.

"Think Akira… think!" I muttered, walking in circles in my room while Crowley ate a big pile of corn like the greedy cute bastard he was.

I had to make a recount of what spirits Aang meets, in the real world.

Let's see… There was this panda spirit, that Aang calmed down, its name was Hei Bai… the panda lived close to a village, so that helps with the empath situation… not many people around the… Senlin Village if I recalled correctly.

That was option one.

As for option number two…. it was a long distant memory from the comics… Forgetful Valley. Situated outside the Fire Nation village of Hira'a, the Forgetful Valley had four mystical, crystal-clear pools of water.

It is said that on occasion, usually once a season, a wolf spirit will drink from one of the four pools. The valley is home to the Mother of Faces, whose presence is said can be discerned upon observing the various fauna and flora; they exhibit face-like markings when the spirit is nearby.

Those were two options now… the cons and pros of each one.

For one, Hei Bai was a very peaceful spirit, unless you tried to fuck with the forest, and if I remember correctly the panda was able to carry people in and out of the spirit realm.

Now… in the Forgetful Valley we have… the Mother of Faces.

The Mother of Faces it's said to be one of the most powerful and ancient spirits. Being older than Vaatu and Raava for she has been around since the dawn of time, being responsible for giving faces to every living organism, bestowing plants, animals, and humans with them. No baby is born without her forming the face.

The Mother of Faces is funny enough, also the mother of Koh, the Face Stealer. Quite ironic.

Both options were… delightfully enticing, but the Forgetful Valley was… more interesting. Why? Well, she was ancient and could talk… and well, Ursa the mother of Zuko was there… and well, that was bound to make things… very, very interesting.

"Well it's settled… let's meet Ursa… and one of the most powerful spirits in existence," Huh, maybe in retrospect I should go to the almost non-threatening Panda.

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[Iroh POV]

Zuko, my dear nephew, was livid. He had once again failed to capture the Avatar, it was heartbreaking to see my nephew so lost, so out of touch with himself.

"He's going to the earth kingdom," Zuko growled, "But the sources are not sure,"

"Don't rust things," I smiled, patting his back, "Life has its own reasons behind stuff,"

"I have to…" Zuko muttered, tears rolling down his eyes, he wanted so much to be loved by his father, to regain the honor he never lost, "I don't know what to do… how to end this,"

I sighed, "Life can be painful and messed up… I'm not going to lie. It gets complicated at the worst of times, and sometimes you have no idea where to go or what to do," I paused, taking a deep breath, remembering my actions when Lu Ten died, my sins, "Lots of times you just let yourself get lost, dropping into a wide open, huge abyss of misdirection, darkest and eventually regret. But that's why we have to keep trying. We have to push through all that hurts us, work past all the memories that are haunting us. After all, is the things that hurt us, the ones that make us grow,"

"He burned me…" Zuko cried, "I- have to do this if I ever want father to forgive me,"

"You must find yourself… before capturing the Avatar, before regaining what you never lost," I hugged Zuko.

"Find myself… I already know who I am..." Zuko chuckled in pain, "And besides… how does one even do that?"

"Somehow…. someday, you'll find it. The balance between whom you wish to be and whom you need to be. But for now, you simply have to be satisfied with who you are," Don't change who you are to please others… be the best version of yourself… if only you could understand that already… that the one that needs to change is the foolish of my little brother.

"Thanks uncle," Zuko sighed, wiping his tears away, "Now, what do you say we head to the earth Kingdom?"

I smiled, I knew he still didn't understand what I had told him, or what I had tried to, but it didn't matter… I would be with him… by his side until he did, I was not going to fail him like I like with my dear… Lu Ten, "That sounds like a trip worth having with tea," I chuckled.

"Then it's settled… the avatar will fall… next time," Zuko stated, all signs of emotional turmoil gone, he was back to his angry self.

"Very well… I'll go pack my tea," I nodded, and for some unexpected reason… the image of young Akira sitting in front of the lake appeared in my head, it had been over a month since I had a cup of tea with him. Was this a message from the spirits?

Perhaps it meant, I would soon cross paths with my tea buddy. How delightful.