"Unlike the stability and consolidation required by Earth, fire is volatile and fleeting. While water is calm and a refuge for life, fire is restless and consumes everything in its path. Air is freedom and ease, but fire is chaos and wildness.
However, confining the elements to mere words is both right and wrong. Rigidly categorizing an element is a mistake. Fire can be stable, controllable, calm, beneficial, and free.
Water can heal, and so can fire. Earth can be used to build, and fire can be used to melt materials that will later be forged. Air is quite spiritual. But wasn't it fire that brought the first glimmer of consciousness and security to humanity?
All the elements are connected and share characteristics, but express themselves differently. However, you must be aware of one thing: unlike the other elements, fire does not depend solely on an external medium; it requires fuel.
You can harness fires that arise in nature and burn your chi to produce flames. One link is missing, though: emotions. Firebenders believe that we have a sun in our hearts that serves as the source of our fire. In reality, however, we are referring to our emotions.
In the past, many believed that fueling their flames with negative emotions would increase their intensity. Fire fueled by anger, pain, frustration, and despair. That's true, but it also has its drawbacks. When the negative emotion fueling your flames fades away, so does your fire.
Never anchor your flame to just a few emotions. Your fire should come from all of them, both positive and negative: Love, happiness, faith, kindness, determination, hatred, resentment, pain, and anger. Everything your heart can hold.
You must have diverse emotional pillars because if you have only one and it falls, you will lose your Firebending until you rebuild it.
Thus, firebending does not manifest in people with faint or absent emotions. However, being overly emotional can be dangerous. Without control, you will only create flames that will hurt you and those around you.
Remember, Aang, fire is a tool and a part of you, not a reservoir for emotions. If you burn through emotions recklessly without letting them cycle naturally, you could end up suffering nervous breakdowns and psychotic episodes." Zuko's voice echoed across the airship's deck as he paced around Aang, who had assumed a meditative posture.
The entire conversation was meant to clear up the Avatar's doubts. Zuko could see it. Aang was prejudiced against Firebending. Who wouldn't? A whole group of them had left an indelible mark on history, and no one could change that.
As a Firebender, though, he didn't want this stigma to stick to the element of fire. It was simply part of nature, without consciousness or will. Fire should not be feared, but embraced, understood, and appreciated.
"I... understand," Aang replied, hesitation evident in his voice. Azula, the only other person present, pursed her lips, slightly annoyed by the Avatar's attitude.
"Look, we're the only ones here, so let's be clear. Do you have something against Firebending? Be honest; we won't hurt you," said the princess. The Avatar scratched the back of his neck, looking somewhat nervous. Under the gaze of the woman's golden eyes, however, he gave in.
"I admit it. I have certain prejudices against firebending. After all, it destroyed everything I knew." Aang was unusually firm in his response, perhaps a result of his Earthbending training.
He looked directly into Azula's eyes, which took her a little aback. Then, a smile spread across her face. She moved closer to him and sat down beside him. With a gesture, she held out her hand, and three of her fingers had distinct flames at their tips.
There was a normal flame, a blue flame, and a light blue flame. She played with them without moving much. They rose and mingled with one another like colors in an oil painting, creating different images before settling into a realistic depiction of Shisui.
"You must already know that we have tried hard to move away from the ideal that led our nation to rampant conquest. We cannot fix the past. We cannot bring back those burned to death or the villages reduced to charcoal. But fire is not just destruction; it is also life, progress, and civilization." Azula's tone was unusually cold, but her gaze softened as she looked at the work of art she had created with fire.
The Shisui created by the princess had eyes made of orange fire, while the rest of its body was formed by two flames of different shades of blue, creating a contrast with shadows.
Suddenly, this image vanished, and Azula held out her palm toward the Avatar. There were no flames, but the air distorted slightly, and a hot wind swept over the Airbender's face.
"However, you are the Avatar. You must not only learn to use an element but also understand it thoroughly. You are the most powerful and talented person of our generation, superior even to Shisui.
I'm not saying you should stop being prejudiced against Firebending. I'm saying you should understand that humans, not Firebending, are to blame. That's what I wanted to convey to you, my brother. But I prefer to be more direct without all the small talk." Azula's fierce words made Zuko cough uncomfortably while Aang smiled subtly.
"I can understand that. One thing I appreciate is that you're at least trying to improve. My anger isn't directed at you, but rather at myself. I've already dealt with my conflicting emotions regarding that issue. Clinging too tightly to biased ideas isn't good," he said, and though he was smiling, Aang's eyes grew cloudy with tears that didn't fall.
Although he had resolved his inner pain when he visited his childhood home, traces of it remained. It wasn't something that could be eliminated by mindset alone; rather, he had to let time soften it.
For a fleeting moment, Aang caught a blurry glimpse of the elderly monk who had raised him. The monk smiled and gestured encouragingly, as if inviting Aang to try, before fading away.
"So, will you try?" Azula's question brought the Airbender's attention back to the real world. He nodded and placed his hands in front of him. Despite having seen how Firebending was done, he didn't know the actual process.
"Yes, I'll try," he replied, cheering Zuko, who sat down on the other side of Aang, leaving the Avatar between the two siblings. This made Aang feel shy, but he soon put that thought aside as he listened intently to their explanations.
Contrary to what he had initially thought, Zuko and Azula began to explain the theoretical knowledge they had of Firebending in detail, rather than having him do somersaults or dance strangely.
They added extra details, such as their own ideas, the advice Agni had given them, and scientific terminology that Shisui had taught them and that had helped them a lot during training.
After three hours of technical explanations, Aang felt as if he had returned to the time when Shisui was his private tutor. He knew this information would benefit him, so he listened carefully.
As if by coincidence, just then the sun was almost at its highest point in the sky. Zuko began teaching Aang the most basic movements of firebending, not the dance he'd learned from Agni. When Aang asked why he wasn't teaching him that dance, the prince gave him an excellent answer:
"You haven't produced a single spark yet, and you want to move on to the purest forms of Firebending? Why don't you ask Shishui to teach you the dance of Tui and La? Would you dare?" First, you have to lay a foundation. Then, I'll teach you the more complex techniques, including how to generate lightning. Including how to generate lightning." With that response from Zuko, Aang focused entirely on the basic moves taught by the prince.
During that hour when the sun reached its zenith, in that golden moment when every Firebender felt supremely powerful, a mighty burst of fire erupted from Aang's punch. The sky was covered by the unleashed power for a moment, and a fundamental change occurred within Aang.
Something Aang might not have noticed was that every time he learned to use an element, something inside him seemed to come together: Airbending, Waterbending, Earthbending, and now Firebending. Each art was a piece of the puzzle that made up the Avatar.
At the moment he unleashed that jet of fire during the sun's zenith, all the pieces finally fell into place, and a shift occurred, moving from the quantitative to the qualitative.
A subtle surge of spiritual energy emanated from the Avatar without a roar or shaking the airship or scattering the clouds in the sky. A special wave simply emanated from his body, and in his mind, Aang heard something click.
His spirit was guided to a strange place filled with golden clouds. Avatar Roku stood beside him, his eyes shining with a deep white light. Next to Roku was Avatar Kyoshi. Beside her stood Avatar Kuruk, followed by Avatar Yangchen, Avatar Szeto, and so on until they reached Avatar Wan, the first one.
Like Roku, all of them had shining eyes. They all looked at Aang. He knew them all; he had spoken with them many times and considered them family. Now, they were gathered here in solemn assembly.
"AVATAR AANG, YOU HAVE LEARNED TO BEND THE FOUR ELEMENTS: FIRE, AIR, WATER, EARTH. YOUR DUTY IS TO SAFEGUARD THE BALANCE OF THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL WORLDS. HOW YOU DO THIS IS ENTIRELY UP TO YOU. NOW, RECEIVE THIS RECOGNITION FROM YOUR PREDECESSORS." The combined voices of all the Avatars echoed through the hall, striking Aang's mind.
Then, each Avatar bowed to him in a full 90-degree bow, showing respect, recognition, esteem, and pride. Now it was his turn to bear the heavy burden of being the Avatar.
"I ACCEPT THIS DUTY AND ITS REWARDS." Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed, and his voice blended with 10,000 years of past lives. His existence seemed to soar into the cosmos, evoking an image of him standing with his hands outstretched, holding a sphere resembling the world.
Just then, three other beings appeared beside Aang: a hawk made of three different types of fire, a faceless humanoid figure made of golden fire holding two swords, and a massive dragon made of water in all its forms.
Aang recognized who these beings represented: the fire hawk as Azula, the swordsman as Zuko, and the dragon as Shisui. The four of them looked at each other before disappearing.
Aang opened his eyes, returning to the real world and his own body. He was startled, however, to see Ty Lee quite close to him with a brush full of black ink, poised to touch his skin. Coupled with the girl's mischievous look, it was clear she was about to play a prank on him.
"Hehe! Too bad." Though she seemed to lament, Ty Lee laughed as she moved away from Aang, who could only laugh along with her. The Avatar looked at the people who hadn't been there before but were now surrounding him and watching him intently.
"We sensed you while we were having lunch, so we came up to see what was going on. We saw you glowing and all that. You seemed so peaceful," said Katara. She walked over to Aang and looked at him with a hint of concern on her face.
"Oh, it was a reaction to learning Firebending. Look," Aang said as he threw the same punch as before, producing a small flame. It was very different from the last time when the sky seemed to be on fire because of him. He wasn't disappointed, though. Instead, he seemed quite pleased with it.
"Also, I saw the Avatars again. They spoke to me..." Aang didn't keep what had happened to himself. Instead, he began to recount in great detail everything he had experienced the moment he entered a trance.
It would be quite good if the next Avatar could benefit from the things he was recounting right now. In fact, Aang had an idea: What if he wrote down his knowledge as Shisui did? It would serve not only his successor but also the entire world by helping to preserve wisdom.
Without a doubt, he would do it.
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OMAKE:
"Thank you, Avatar Aang. Thank you, Sage Shisui..." Korra murmured, her eyes flashing with intense light as she gave birth to a version of herself made of spiritual energy. This allowed her to access a higher level of power.
She was giving it her all because the cataclysm that threatened to destroy the world was about to happen, and she didn't want to lose everything she knew so easily. The knowledge she had gained over the years, combined with her past knowledge, made her very different from her original self. After all, her destiny, and that of others, was no longer bound.
Lady Asami did everything in her power to ensure the young Avatar learned as much as possible, giving Korra an exceptionally profound understanding of the physical and spiritual worlds, the elements, and energy.
Thus, the energy construct she had created was sufficient to solve the problem without leaving any lasting consequences in this world. She had to protect the home that all humans scattered across the stars were fighting to protect!