53: Talking with the Avatar.
"Then I guess we can talk normally," Aang said, gradually coming out of his Avatar state.
Having dozens of his past lives acting simultaneously is not as easy as it sounds, but at least his spiritual level allowed him to have some control over this powerful state, although he had much to master.
But his use of this power made the people present, even his acquaintances like Shisui, take him more seriously. Especially Shisui, he could feel the immense spiritual power coming from Aang when he was in that special state, and could only think of one thing: powerful.
The Avatar was undoubtedly the most powerful living being in the world today, and might remain so for a very long time. Could a human reach that level of power on his own? Not with tools like Kuvira and her Titanium mecha.
For Shisui, the Avatar in this state is perhaps the most optimal state a human could reach without having to completely transform into a spirit and lose their nature. Now that he had witnessed confirmation of how far he could fill a human, Shisui was filled with determination.
But this path, a very arduous, difficult, and invisible path, had at least seen an important direction. So his mood improved quite a bit. Besides, he was close to Appa, so maybe he could take advantage of it and go for a ride. Who wouldn't want to ride a Flying Bison?
"Yes... Well, did you say your name was Aang? Tell me, what happened?" asked Hakoda, and although he didn't give many details, everyone could understand the meaning of his question.
"Well... It's a long story," Aang didn't give many details, but he roughly explained part of what happened almost 100 years ago when he was trapped in the ice.
The fact that he was technically a hundred-year-old man might have been surprising in the past, but considering several factors, such as the fact that his mentality was not that of an old monster and that they had only recently learned of the existence of a man over 4,000 years old, well, it was not all that surprising.
"Child, it must be terrible to wake up in an age you don't fully understand," Lao Ge said with some sadness in his tone, but Aang shook his head and smiled.
"It is! But I was able to adapt easily, you know, I've never seen so many people from different nations together. Even though what happened to my people is tragic...
I have a feeling they would be happy that the barriers between people are no longer so noticeable," Aang reflected, having seen the coexistence of the three types of nations at the South Pole.
If only for economic reasons, it was a breakthrough. Seeing Waterbenders, Firebenders, and Earthbenders in front of him was already an achievement, wasn't it? Before, they rarely came together, and during the decades of war, they only appeared together in times of battle.
For him to have these people come looking for him, even if it was arranged by Shisui and the others, was an accomplishment. Knowing how stupid, stubborn, or incompetent a person of power could be based on his past life experiences, he at least saw something different.
"So, do you want to do something? Want something? Get something?" Azula asked, quickly getting to the heart of the matter.
These questions made the people in the room look at Aang with anticipation and a little trepidation. What will this new Avatar want? Will it be something that will help them or hurt them?
It was normal for the Avatars to follow directions that many people did not accept, or that some people opposed. The most obvious example of this is the origin story of Kyoshi Island.
"I haven't given it much thought," Aang said, being quite honest with his answer.
He hadn't had that much time awake in this new world, and knowing all the changes that had occurred, he wanted to explore it, but he knew he had a duty to this world, one that required him to become stronger as well as learn about the other elements.
His conflict was not as strong as in the original story, but it was there. After all, Aang was a human raised in a pacifist culture, and he woke up many years later, far away from everyone and everything he knew.
"But the first thing would be to learn Waterbending better, right? Then Earthbending, Firebending. Maybe I could travel along the way..." Aang said, glancing sideways at Katara, who was standing next to her older brother.
"You want a Waterbending master? We've got the best Waterbender here!" as part of the show, Ty Lee approached Shisui, lifting the boy's arm to make him stand out.
"Isn't he a Firebender?" asked Aang, feigning ignorance, looking at Shisui's clothes, he was dressed in black with gold tones, his hair was dark, and his eyes were gold colored, how could he not look like a Firebender?
Even if his skin was brown! But there was supposed to be a primitive tribe of brown-skinned Firebenders, wasn't there? He could easily be one, so Aang's question made a lot of sense, and many people in the group smiled when they heard it.
"He's a Waterbender," Zuko said calmly, then paused before continuing.
"You should know, the Avatars gave him the title of Sage, and he is an enlightened person," Zuko's last words made Shisui shake his head as he smiled.
'Those guys forgot the script, didn't they?' Shisui thought, trying not to burst out laughing at how funny he found this situation.
"Ah... I wanted to go to the North Pole, not only to learn Waterbending, but also to meet the Spirits of the Ocean and the Moon." Aang quickly changed the subject, remembering the main points he was supposed to address in this meeting.
"Really? But he is the best Waterbender," a Fire Nation staffer said, causing others to mutter the same thing.
Knowing that things had gotten out of hand, Azula clicked her tongue. She didn't want to make this weird fake, but the others wanted to pretend and even arrange special lines for each other, but knowing that things had already been distorted badly, why not exaggerate even more?
If there was one thing the Fire Nation excelled at, for better or worse, it was exaggerating things in a big way, perhaps influenced by the fire element. The people of this nation were very emotional.
"I have an idea!" Azula shouted, calming the crowd and releasing her impulse, which made her look to the others like a giant bird of prey, greedily watching the little people from above.
Seeing that even the Avatar was not expecting her action and was a little surprised, Azula smiled. She knew how to solve several problems in one fell swoop; not only did she want to show him a way, but she also wanted to serve a greater purpose.
"How about we accompany you to the North Pole?" Although it sounded like a question, the tone in which Azula said the words sounded more like a suggestion, causing Aang's eyes to widen in amazement.
Although Shisui had told him about his interest in the North Pole, there had never been any talk of a trip or anything like that, but now Azula's words seemed to correct a lot of things.
"That's a good idea, I could even send my children on a diplomatic mission, although those pompous people from the North are kind of annoying, I guess our tribes need more contact," Hakoda said, taking the opportunity to insert his children along.
His plan was for his eldest son to see the world, not just the sea, and to learn new things by following the Avatar. Katara felt the same way, but he also wanted her to have qualified study partners; not everyone could be like Sage Shisui, who learned Waterbending on his own.
Although there were Waterbenders at the South Pole, the age difference was a problem; the younger ones were barely children, and the others were adults or elderly, while at the North Pole, there were youngsters like Katara.
Sure, he knew about the stupid rule of the Northerners that forbade women to learn anything other than Water Healing, something that had further divided the two tribes, but with his letter, at least Pakku would not be so arrogant with his daughter.
There was also another purpose: to bring Shisui even closer to the Water Tribes. Yes, he was born and raised in the Fire Nation, but he couldn't ignore that he was a Waterbender, could he? This was a topic that the three water leaders, the Southern Tribe Chief, the Swamp Tribe Chief, and the Northern King, had discussed several times.
They wanted Shisui to know more about the Water Tribes! Though Kya had told Hakoda of Shisui's strong connection to the Fire Nation, something that could even be seen from afar with his engagement to Princess Azula, Shisui, not forgetting his roots, was something Hakoda had always considered.
To that point, Shisui's importance to the Waterbenders had come to resemble that of the Avatars, who were born into the three water tribes. If the Waterbenders were characterized by anything, it was the bonds they formed.
Shisui watched as the conversation gradually turned to travel planning, even working out a fairly optimal route for Aang to traverse the known world with ease.
For some reason, Shisui felt that with the start of Aang's journey, many hidden problems in this world would jump out to find him or the Avatar, so he gradually clenched his fists.
Others might ignore such premonitions, but as a highly spiritual person and a person who had attained enlightenment, he would not ignore such an obvious sign.
Knowing that Vaatu was up to something, that Zhao had fallen into a deep state of meditation for some strange reason, and that this man had so many destructive desires in his heart, he would not be surprised if many complicated things happened in the future.
In addition to the possible problems he might encounter, since there was never a shortage of extremist idealists among humans, the next few years would certainly be eventful. So Shisui took a deep breath and calmed his thoughts.
Getting scared would not solve anything, besides, this was something he had already expected and prepared for all these years. This world was not peaceful, and even though he had already experienced some of the chaos this place had to offer, he knew that this was just the beginning.
'Just crush everything that gets in the way, let no one be left at the end,' Shisui concluded, his golden eyes sparking a little and a broad smile appearing on his face, even though his thoughts were murderous, his expression was pure.
Looks like his life will be full of stories and anecdotes to tell his descendants! This strange thought made him burst out laughing, attracting Azula's attention, who looked at him curiously.
"What are you laughing at?" the princess asked quietly, causing Shisui to put his arm around her waist and pull her close.
"Our children and grandchildren," he replied without thinking too much, but he noticed that Azula's face was turning red and her head seemed to fill with steam, but the predatory look in Azula's eyes was growing stronger.
Shisui, who was much taller than Azula, felt a chill on his back. It seemed that his mind wandered so much because he craved for battle and interesting things that he said something without thinking, now his body was about to suffer the consequences.
Azula touched his chest with her index finger. The rhythm was special, similar to the language Musu used to communicate in the earthly world, and the rough translation would be something like this: 'We won't sleep tonight'.
Some people asked Aang some interesting questions, such as 'How does it feel to have been male and female for so many lifetimes?' Shisui did not care to know the answers to such curious questions.
He prayed to the Spirits of the Ocean and the Moon that he had been born a Waterbender! Only then would he be able to touch the concepts of the principles of this element, such as Life.
Something he would need to survive tonight.