A small wooden boat drifted quietly in the sea north of the Earth Kingdom, it carried two figures heading straight to the Western coast of the Earth Kingdom. Luckily for the two, the sea was calm with no signs of storms.
Aang sat, arms folded tightly across his chest, his gray eyes burning with frustration as he glared at the man opposite him. If Sokka was around, he would have definitely said Aang was acting like Katara, but that didn't matter to Aang at the moment. Across him sat Tai Lung near the stern, who seemed entirely unmoved by the young monk's stare.
The silence stretched, filled only by the creak of the sail and the gentle lapping of waves against the hull. Finally, after what felt like hours, Aang could hold his words no longer.
"After all your talk about peace and balance," he burst out, "the moment you walked into the Northern Water Tribe city, you scared them into giving you clothes and a boat!"
Tai Lung didn't even look at him. "No," he said mildly, "I simply showed them my blue fire and asked for some help. They were quite eager to lend it and see me go home."
Aang's eye twitched. "They were terrified of you! They begged you to spare their children!"
"A common misunderstanding," Tai Lung replied, still calm, "when you see someone from the Fire Nation."
"They were afraid of you, not the Fire Nation!" Aang snapped. "You can't pretend you don't know that!"
Tai Lung finally turned his gaze toward him, his golden eyes steady. "And what would you have me do, Aang? Explain to them that I'm not a madman who burns everyone he meets? Apologize for horrors I never committed? They fear me because I am strong and because I come from the Fire Nation. And you of all people should know that you and your friends considered me the greatest evil in the world despite me not hurting you or doing anything really. All of this bad publicity will fade once the Jade Palace begins accepting students"
Aang pressed his lips together, he knew Tai Lung was right, he and his friends had an image of an evil fire monster in their minds, yes Tai Lung was scary powerful, inhumanly so, but what did he do? He avoided fighting and harming the innocent where he could. They saw that as clear as the day and yet chose to fear the image instead of the person, they chose to fight instead of trying to talk like Iroh suggested.
Aang stared at the rippling water for sometime before saying. "You're really going to do this," he said quietly. "Build a place to maintain peace… in place of the Avatar?"
"Of course," Tai Lung answered. "I want the people to maintain peace themselves. And for that to happen, they must unite, train together, so their purpose isn't gain, power, pride, or glory, but peace and balance alone. And let's face it, leaving the decision to a single person is not exactly a good thing even if the person has a good intention, do I need to remind you how you and the Ocean Spirit chose to fight in the war instead of saving the Moon Spirit?"
Aang lowered his head, mulling over the words. The faint hiss of the sea breeze filled the silence between them. Then Tai Lung spoke again.
"Do you hate me?"
The question caught Aang off guard. Aang hesitated, his brow furrowing as he searched in himself. When he spoke, his voice was low and honest.
"I don't know what I'm feeling anymore," he said. "I feared the destruction I thought you'd bring. I feared my friends getting hurt. And yes, I was angry at you for what you did to the White Lotus… and to Raava. But at the same time, I hate that I can't decide whether you're truly evil or not. I hate that I don't know what's right or wrong anymore. And I have no past lives to ask for guidance anymore."
Tai Lung regarded him quietly. "I expected you to outright hate me" he said. "After all, I denied you the role and name you believed were destined for you. Because of me, you're no longer the Avatar. You'll never be. I took that from you."
Aang shook his head slowly. "I'm not angry or sad that I'm not the Avatar. I ran away a hundred years ago when I first learned I was. It felt like a responsibility I never asked for. Everyone looked up to me, expected me to fix their problems, to fight and kill in the name of peace. It went against everything the monks taught me."
He lifted his gaze, meeting Tai Lung's eyes. "When you and Vaatu removed Raava from me, I felt… empty. Like part of me had been torn away. I still feel that emptiness. But at the same time, I feel relieved. Relieved that it's no longer my responsibility. Relieved that the worst I feared about you, that you'd destroy everything, isn't true."
Tai Lung's mouth curved in something between a smile and a sigh. "It's ironic," he murmured. "You and I are opposites."
Aang tilted his head. "How so?"
"There was a time," Tai Lung said slowly, his eyes drifting toward the horizon, "when others placed expectations on me too, the highest imaginable expectations. I didn't run from them. I embraced them. I was told I was destined for greatness, and I believed it. When that destiny was denied, I grew angry. Spiteful. I hurt innocents, just to prove I was worthy. My actions proved the opposite, that I am not worthy to have what I thought I deserved."
He looked down at the sea, its vastness swallowing the reflection of the sun. "If I had been born in your place," he said softly, almost to himself, "I dread what might have become of the world."
Aang frowned, uncertain what he meant, but he could sense the heaviness in the man's words, the weight of regret that time could not undo.
"And now?" Aang asked after a while. "What if it happens again?"
Tai Lung's golden eyes softened as he looked toward the horizon. "I've received my punishment," he said. "And I've been forgiven. But I don't believe that alone absolves me of my wrongs. I don't intend to repeat them."
"Now," he said, almost with reverence, "I truly understand the meaning of words a certain old turtle used to say: Yesterday is history to learn from. Tomorrow is a mystery to discover. But today…"
He looked up at the open sky, the sunlight dancing on the sea like sparks of life.
"The present is a gift. And it's one I intend to be thankful for. Destiny is ever changing like everything else."
For a long while, neither Aang nor Tai Lung spoke. Then, as though a thought had just sprouted in his mind, Aang spoke, his tone gentler than before.
"This turtle you speak of," he said at last, "sounds like a wise one."
Tai Lung gave a small, almost amused smile. "Yes," he said, "it's the wisest turtle there is, but frustrating to interact with. It speaks in riddles, sometimes masks silly jokes behind wise words and acts, it pauses as if the weight of the world rests on every word it utters, it has its faults like the rest of us."
Aang chuckled lightly "You told me during our fight that I'm stronger than someone called Po. Who's that?"
Tai Lung's smile deepened slightly "Yes. In the Avatar State, you were stronger than the fat panda."
Aang blinked. "Do you have a habit of referring to people as animals? You even called yourself a snow leopard."
"I don't have that habit," Tai Lung replied, his tone unbothered. "I simply use a fitting description."
Aang raised a brow. "Then what would you call me?"
"The tattooed human," Tai Lung answered without hesitation.
Aang frowned. "I mean as an animal!"
"Human," Tai Lung replied again, this time with the faintest smirk.
Aang sighed in exasperation. "But you call yourself a snow leopard, whatever that is."
"Do you remember how I looked when I transformed?" Tai Lung asked.
"Yes."
"That's a snow leopard," Tai Lung said simply.
Aang nodded thoughtfully. "So about your transformation… can others do it too?"
Tai Lung paused, clearly considering the question. "I'm honestly not sure," he admitted after a moment. "If they open their chakras and their chi reaches a certain level, they might be able to achieve something similar or at least attain a state unique to themselves. But such conditions are extremely difficult to meet."
Aang nodded again, his curiosity only deepening. "What about the evil jade art? Did you learn the jade art in the Spirit World?"
Tai Lung turned his head, one brow arched. "Yes, I learned it from a greedy old yak. And you're awfully talkative all of a sudden."
Aang gave a sheepish grin. "I'm bored. Traveling on a small boat is terrible. And besides…" he looked at Tai Lung, "you don't seem to be an evil person."
Tai Lung let out a quiet hum. "You change your mind awfully fast. You were confused about me just a while ago."
"I still am," Aang admitted "And I'm still angry about some of the things you've done even after everything you told me. But as a monk, I should learn to forgive, especially when the target of my hate holds no malice toward me."
"Air Nomad teaching?" Tai Lung asked, his tone curious.
Aang nodded once.
Tai Lung was silent for a long moment. The sea stretched endless before them. Then, unexpectedly, he spoke.
"Are you interested in joining the Jade Palace?" he asked. "You'll be my student."
Aang's eyes went wide. "Wait, what? You want me to be your student?"
Tai Lung looked at him blankly. "Did I stutter?"
"No, it's just…" Aang stammered, blinking rapidly. "It's a surprising offer! Why would you even want me there?"
Tai Lung replied "You're the ex-Avatar," he said simply. "Showing the world that we've put our conflict behind us will send the right message. And beyond that… I'm interested in the culture and teachings of the Air Nomads. You're the last of them."
He paused a little before continuing "Lastly, even without Raava, you're still a master of airbending and you still have great room to grow."
Aang's lips parted slightly, the wind brushing past him like a whisper of the past. He was about to refuse, he wanted to but for some reason he couldn't answer. He looked down at the water, watching the moving surface.
"I… need some time to think about it," he said finally.
Tai Lung nodded once. "You have all the time you need."
And for a moment, as the boat drifted across the glowing sea, the silence between them felt peaceful.