Gathering Strength

"I am ready," Aang said, drawing in a lungful of air. Grandfather stood beside him, hand splayed over the body of the moon spirit, which floated belly up in a bowl of water.

Uncle Wang sat across from Aang, and Aaron was by their side, wrestling against the urge to bite his nails. General Iroh and the rest of the White Lotus watched with Aaron as the Avatar meditated into the spirit world.

"Do not fret," General Iroh said. "The Avatar spirit is stronger than you think. It will bounce back from this."

"I am sure he will; you just don't know my grandfather like I do," Aaron muttered. After thinking about it briefly, he made up his mind. "I'm going to join them."

"Didn't your Uncle ask you to stay behind? Zuko asked, and Aaron looked at the boy, who seemed to flinch slightly under his gaze.

"He did, but I have a bad feeling. If I'm wrong, I get punished, but If I'm right---"

"You could be saving the Avatar's life," Uncle Iroh said, and Aaron nodded.

"Go, then. Don't let us keep you."

---

Dopi's spirit pulled Aaron halfway through his transition into the spirit world, bringing him to the same space where he found her, except the person standing before him was not the Dopi he knew.

It was a feline creature with deep green eyes, four hands, and white fur. She stood over three meters tall.

"Dopi?"

"It's me. This is my true form," she said, and Aaron blinked. It was a bit strange reconciling the small ball of light to the giant beast standing in front of him.

"I thought you needed a hundred years to heal?"

"I do, but I don't need that long to manifest my old spiritual body," she smiled and felt her arm fur. "It feels great standing in my old body again."

It warmed Aaron's heart to see her happy and whole again, though he never pegged her as a cat.

"I'm glad you're yourself again," Aaron said, "but I need to get to Grandfather's grove. I know we only briefly talked about it, but I fear Grandfather might try to do more than just take over the Moon spirit domain."

Dopi frowned. "He most certainly will. Your Grandfather has always been too greedy for his own good. He won't be able to resist sinking his claws into a spirit that ancient. I fear that he might've allowed the draught and the war to go on longer than it should've. Rescuing the moon spirit should be no challenge for a spirit of his power."

It was Aaron's turn to frown. "Even if he did all that, he didn't kill the Moon spirit, Samir did."

Dopi nodded. "But didn't you tell me he was in a mental battle with your grandfather when it happened?"

Aaron's mind spun at the implication.

"I've battled your grandfather before. I guarantee that the traveler shouldn't been able to move, much less think if Paku was ravaging his mind."

"Oh fuck," Aaron muttered.

"Indeed," Dopi nodded. "I'm coming with you. I know you love your Grandfather, but I say we don't take any chances."

"Agreed," he nodded. Some part of him hoped that he was overreacting, blowing the situation way out of proportion, but she'd been right about his power. Grandfather was far too powerful to lose his hold over Samir like that.

"I don't know how the family will react though," Aaron said. "Their first duty is to the Air Nation, and the second is to the world. They might side with him, even if he takes over the Avatar."

Dopi's frown deepened. "Then we must prepare for an uphill battle. Your own family might be against you. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"To be honest, I don't like our odds," he confessed, "but it's the right thing to do. I was all right with him taking revenge on the royal family for what Sozin did to our people, but trying to take control of Aang's body crossed the line. For him, it was never only about revenge, it's about power."

Dopi stared at him intensely, her green eyes peering deep into his spirit before she finally nodded.

"To be honest, I thought it'd be harder to bring you over to my side, but since you've found your way here all, on your own, I'm going to need you to be stronger. Much stronger."

Her green eyes glowed, and a line of energy flowed into him, striking at the heart of the parasite of spirit that Grandfather attached to him. It shrieked, its death cry deafening, before it slumped and transformed into a rich spirit energy that began to leak out of Aaron's spirit.

"Why did you do that?" Aaron demanded. "Now he'll know something is wrong."

"Does that really matter at this point?" Dopi said, her eyes still glowing. Her fingers struck out wrapping around the remains of the spirit parasite. Another hand wrapped around Aaron, completely immobilizing his spirit.

"What are you doing!"

"If you're so determined to run to your death," she said. "The least I can do is ensure you come out alive."

Dopi touched his head with her third index finger, and Aaron's spirit was suddenly bare; his energy and will were the puppet of another being.

"You're energy-bending me… why?" he croaked out, suddenly terrified. From his perspective, Dopi looked like a goddess, his eyes white, her fur glowing with energy.

"For your own good."

She stuffed the spirit into him, merging it with his very spirit. And it was like lightning struck. Aaron's mind was inundated with thousands of memories, conversations, experiences, and techniques, and suddenly, it was all clear.

"Oh…no," he whispered. "You need to come with me, and you need to come with me now," he said to Dopi.

Dopi blinked, her eyes losing their glow. "What did you see?"

"His plan," he muttered, his voice grave and low. "It's so much worse than you think."