Love in Danger chapter 33: Stabbed in betrayal, Healed by hope.

Long Feng explained the situation with clinical calmness. "I've promised my followers revenge against the Fire Nation. I cannot allow the colonies to remain in the Fire Lord's control. They are stolen Earth Kingdom territory. However securing loyalty from the colonies has proven impossible and what's worse talks of the race mixing going on in them have enraged so many followers that it's been very difficult to prevent rioting throughout the colonies. The fact is we cannot reconcile vengeance against the Fire Nation with accepting race mixing with Firebenders. So, the only solution is to wipe the slate clean."

"What does that mean?"

Long Feng remained cold. "The Earth Kingdom's blood must become pure once more. So, for the good of the nation the colonials must die."

Complete and total shock was Jing's initial reaction. "W…what?" he stuttered in disbelief.

"It's regretful," Long Feng said. Though he didn't put much feeling into sounding remorseful. "But it's the only option. Once the half-breeds are dead pureblooded Earth Kingdom people can move back into that land."

` Jing was still having a hard time believing he was really hearing this. "But the followers would never abide the killing of so many people with Earth Nation blood!"

"I know," Long Feng replied with pride. "That was the part that had me stumped for a while. It's the reason this measure will be so secret. You see we will covertly carry out the purification with the men who do so disguised as Fire Nation soldiers. We'll even burn the colonies for good measure. We'll say Fire Lord Zuko was willing to kill his own subjects to avoid returning control of the colonies. Thus, the colonials will all become martyrs, part of the rallying cry of vengeance."

Poli stood up with excitement, looking positively ecstatic. "That's amazing sir! You've managed to find a perfect use for those filthy half-breeds!"

Jing spoke without thinking. "You can't be serious Poli." Poli looked confused. "Why not?"

Long Feng looked angry. "Yes, Jing why not?"

Jing finally realized what he had said. He was more surprised than them. But he kept speaking before he had time to think. "It's one thing to kill Firebenders but so many of the colonials are Earth Kingdom. We can't just kill all of them and lie to the followers about it."

Poli got right in his face. He sounded livid. "They are a bunch of half-breeds and traitors to their race. They gave up the right to live the second they chose to mate with Firebenders."

"Not all of them had a choice," Jing argued. "Firebenders took over their land and forced them to coexist. And besides how many horrible stories have we heard from refuges whose wives, sisters, and daughters were forced upon by Fire Nation soldiers? How can we blame them for that?"

Poli grabbed him by his collar and started shaking him. "You are such a coward! When are you going to grow up?!"

"Let go of me!" Jing ordered, prying Poli's hand off. He walked over to Long Feng. "Sir there has to be another way."

Long Feng remained far more composed than Poli but the rage buried in his tone was unmistakable. "Jing, are you questioning me?"

Jing finally understood the impact of what he had been saying. He was mortified. He bowed his head like a beaten dog. "No sir I would never question you."

Long Feng was not completely placated. "Do you really think if there was a better way I wouldn't have thought of it?"

Jing shook his head. "Of course not."

"Do you think I like having to take such extreme measures?"

Jing got down on his knees and bowed in reverence. "No sir I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. It won't happen again."

Long Feng smirked. He was happy to be reminded how much control he had. "I know it won't. What shortcomings your softness provides, your loyalty more than makes up for. You are forgiven. Stand up."

Jing rose to his feet and kept his head low.

"I trust all preparations are in order to keep the Avatar's wife secure during battle."

"Almost sir" Jing answered obediently. "I just need to be totally sure I can trust the guards assigned to her."

"What's the point of that?" Poli asked impatiently.

"I told you both about that guard who tried to attack her," Jing reminded. "If I hadn't stopped him who knows what would have happened? Since it's still our goal to preserve the health of her pregnancy I have to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Long Feng said. "That man's been sent to the frontlines as punishment."

"But I have to make sure another guard doesn't…" Poli started laughing. "That won't be a problem." Jing was really confused. "How do you know?"

"Because I've ordered all guards not to lay a hand on her, "Long Feng said as if it was totally simple.

"But he disobeyed your order! Someone else might…" Poli started laughing even more. He became hysterical. "What's so funny?"

Long Feng seemed more than happy to explain. "I needed some way to provoke Aang to enter the Avatar State with no control so he'd lower his guard but killing Katara was undesirable. I knew I couldn't lie to him about what happened or he'd detect it."

Jing's eyes widened. As the realization hit him, he felt like he couldn't breathe. "You ordered that guard to attack her."

Long Feng seemed amused. "Oh, I wouldn't say ordered. But I knew about his rather bestial disposition. I simply informed him that as long as he kept it secret, he could do whatever he pleased."

Jing was still short of breath. "So, if I hadn't shown up, he might have really…"

Long Feng clasped him on the shoulder. "Oh, but I knew you would stop him my boy. I told you; it was no accident I chose you to guard her."

Jing looked up. "Then why didn't you just tell me?"

"I needed your reaction to be real," Long Feng explained. "Katara wouldn't have stayed complacent if she thought every guard around her, was a potential threat. I needed her to trust you."

Jing was too afraid to say the next thing he thought out loud.

You…you used me.

Poli's laughter kept getting louder. Another horrible epiphany hit Jing. He turned around. "You knew, didn't you?"

Poli simply grinned.

"You're not upset, are you?" Long Feng asked, remembering his earlier attitude. "You should be happy you played such a vital role in my plan."

Jing took a second to turn back around. He took a deep breath. When he faced Long Feng, he was smiling and calm. "Not at all sir; that was a brilliant plan and I'm happy I was a part of it."

Long Feng was content. He dismissed the both of them to make final preparations for battle. The two brothers left the room and began walking down the hall.

"You'd better not be mad," Poli warned. "I told you your weakness would only cause you problems. If you don't want to be lied to you really should toughen up."

Jing didn't even hear him. He was learning against the wall, walking slowly. He was clutching his chest and a cold sweat was pouring down his face. The weight of everything he just learned was crushing him

"What now you're not talking to me?" Poli asked.

Jing still didn't say anything. His breathing kept getting worse until he was hyperventilating. He dropped to the ground like a stone.

"Jing?" Poli asked. He realized his brother wasn't moving. He ran over to him. "Jing what's wrong?" He nudged his brother and saw he was unconscious. "Jing are you ok?!" he shouted with genuine worry.

MEANWHILE in the Spirit world.

Aang's meeting with Rohan was continuing in the Spirit World.

"You're an Avatar?" Aang asked.

Rohan sounded sad but not surprised. "You don't believe me, do you? It's ok no one does."

Aang was worried he had hurt his feelings. "No no it's not that. It's just most of the Avatars I've met appear to me older than this. I didn't know they could change to look like children."

"They usually don't but they can control it," Rohan explained. "Avatars usually choose to appear in the age where they were strongest like Kyoshi does, or the age where they died like Avatar Roku…and me."

"You…were only this old when you died?" Aang asked with hesitance.

Rohan nodded. "Ten years old yeah." Now he looked pretty depressed. He sat down by a tree and pouted.

Aang felt sympathetic and sat down next to him. "I'm really sorry." He was reminded of how he had learned of his identity as the Avatar and lost his people at age twelve. It seems like being the Avatar had abruptly ended this boy's childhood too. "Did some enemy kill you young to stop you from ever being a threat?"

Rohan shook his head. "No. I wish it was that cool." "Cool?" Aang repeated with incredulity.

"The way I died was really stupid," Rohan said. "It was just some lame accident." "What do you mean?"

"I was an Airbender like you," he said. "But from the Northern Temple. I think I was the air Avatar before Yangchen but I have trouble remembering. It was like two thousand years ago or something. My guardian always warned me how fragile my glider was and that I should always check it for rips before I go flying. But my friends wanted to race and I forgot." He sounded very guilty. "One of the wings broke and I couldn't steer. I flew headfirst into a rock." He buried his head in his knees

Aang pat him on the shoulder. Feeling sorry for this child made it easy to forget his own problems and it was nice to talk to another Airbender. He also thought about how many times he forgot to inspect his own glider despite Gyatso's warnings. "I'm sorry. Even if you were young, I'm surprised you didn't go into the Avatar State when you were in danger."

Rohan lifted his chin up and rested it on his knees. "It happened so fast I had no idea what was going on. Next thing I knew I woke up in the Spirit World. I was so freaked out. I didn't even know I was the Avatar yet." Aang remembered it was tradition to tell the Avatar his or her identity on their sixteenth birthday. Of course he didn't know at the time.

"How'd you find out?" Aang asked.

"When I showed up here the Avatar before me told me I was, not that it mattered much anymore."

Aang remembered how confused and overwhelmed he was as a twelve-year-old boy to receive that news. He had to admit this sounded like a worse way to find out.

Rohan continued on. "The monks never even told anyone I was the Avatar after I died. They figured it would make people freak out or something if they knew the Avatar had died like that. They only told the people in the Water Tribe in charge of naming the next one." He let out a sigh.

"Some people even though the Avatar just skipped an element in my generation. The Avatar who came after me was an awesome hero. So, the world went on without me like nothing happened."

The world had gone on without him like nothing happened. When Aang had disappeared into the iceberg for a century the entire world went to hell. It had filled him with such guilt and shame. He couldn't imagine feeling like his absence meant nothing.

Rohan's sadness didn't stop him from continuing. "The Avatar after me united the Water Tribes into sister tribes. She also stopped a hurricane from destroying a fleet of ships all by herself! Oh, she was so cool!" He sounded like he was talking about his favorite superhero.

"It sounds like you watched her a lot" Aang replied.

"You bet!" Rohan said, now sounding happy. "I watch all the Avatars! Being dead can get pretty boring and since I never got to do anything cool as the Avatar, I like seeing the adventures the other Avatar's have. Oh, and I love when they go into the Avatar State!"

"Why?"

Rohan was incredibly excited now. "When the current Avatar glows it up, I get to experience everything with him! It feels like being alive again! And I even get to help him fight!" He calmed down a bit. "I mean sure, I don't have a lot of power, I never even mastered Airbending but that doesn't stop me from giving it everything I got."

Aang had never thought of the Avatar State like that before. He knew all the past Avatar's contributed their powers to him simultaneously but he never stopped to consider they were experiencing his battles with him. There were so many Avatars. Did all of them have their own thoughts and feelings about his experiences?

"Wow so you've been there every time I entered the Avatar State huh? Aang asked.

"Sure have!" Rohan beamed. "It was pretty hazy before you mastered the Avatar State. The first couple of times I couldn't tell exactly what you were doing I just knew you were angry, especially since you only stayed in it for a few minutes. But oh man when you fought Fire Lord Ozai that was so awesome! I had a lot of fun."

Aang laughed pretty loudly. He was terrified for his life in that battle. It was so odd to hear it described as fun.

Rohan suddenly turned a little shy. "I'm…I'm glad you didn't kill him."

That certainly surprised Aang. Pretty much everyone he knew had disagreed with his reluctance to kill Ozai. He found it refreshing. "Really? You are?"

Rohan nodded. "I hate when Avatars use the Avatar State to kill someone. It feels like…" He shook in fear. "It feels like I'm killing them."

Aang gasped in shock. It had been thousands of years since Rohan had died. The pain in his voice was so deep. He must have been forced to experience that several times.

"I'm like you Aang" Rohan said. "I've always been taught that killing anyone is wrong. But the Avatar ends up in fights where they have to kill so many times…."

Aang had completely forgotten about his own problems at this point. "I'm so sorry Rohan. It's not fair that you have to go through that just because you were born the Avatar."

Rohan turned his head suddenly, looking very surprised. "But I love being an Avatar!" "…You do?" Aang asked. That didn't seem fitting.

"Of course!" Rohan insisted. "It's so great watching the Avatars make the world a better place. All of them are so cool. The hardest part is having to experience death repeatedly through their eyes, but that's one reason why…"

"Why what?" Aang asked.

Rohan gave a big smile. "I've watched everything that the Avatars who came after me have done and I've asked almost every Avatar who came before me to tell me about their lives. They're all so different and awesome and after learning about every single Avatar who ever lived Aang…you're my favorite Avatar of all!"