Jaejoong watched the Water Tribe ship sail out into the ocean with no regrets. His task was done. He had finally gotten rid of that gullible Water Tribe bastard who purposely knocked his sister to unconsciousness. He knew that Kyuhyun would never suspect a thing when he agreed the guy’s plans on getting rid of the other Water Tribe Royalties. Maybe killing was a bit too much, but at least now there was one less person to bother his young, innocent sister. If anything terrible happens to Taeyeon while he was around, he could never forgive himself.

One day ago…

              Jaejoong stood frozen as he saw Taeyeon face to face right by the spicy rice cakes booth. The food stall was nothing but a cover—a practical disguise, just like the medicine stall in the capital. He was given the task of their “clan leader” to wait for the anticipated “Changmin’s Parcel” after successfully poisoning the infamous former Admiral Park Yongwoo, who happened to be one of the top victims of their “hit list.” He also tried to poison the Firelord at Taeyeon’s coronation party, but failed. Feeling guilty about what he had been enslaved to, he just cannot face Taeyeon at all—not like this. Now, all he can think was to just run as far away from her as possible.

              After running into the thick forest, Jaejoong quickly hid by the trees and climbed up the tall branches. He knew Taeyeon would never see him at such a height behind the thick foliage of the trees since she had always been such a short child. As Taeyeon helplessly wandered in search of her brother in the forest, Jaejoong was watching her from above. His heart ached with her every call. Although he very much wanted to be with her and comfort her like the big brother that he was supposed to be, he just could not. All he could do was just watch from a distance. It was for the best.

              Hours passed and the sun had set. Taeyeon was lost in the dark forest, yet Jaejoong kept a close watchful eye on her. Soon he saw a figure wearing a black cloak quietly approaching Taeyeon from behind. Before he could get down from the trees to protect Taeyeon from the attacker, he realized who it was. It was Kyuhyun, trying to do his job. When the bastard hit Taeyeon, Jaejoong’s blood began to boil. He wanted to avenge his sister. However, before he could chase down the man, he saw a messenger bird fly down to Taeyeon’s unconscious body. He wanted to shoo it away so that he can at least help his sister while she was unconscious, but suddenly an air bender girl fell out of nowhere, making Kyuhyun run and hide before finally finishing off Taeyeon. Jaejoong just watched as the air bender gently carried his sister out of the forest. Well, at least he knows that his sister is safe in the hands of an air bender. Air benders are usually one of the purest human beings.

              Now it was time to confront Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun was supposed to deliver the parcel from the North Pole. However, when they met, Kyuhyun became very suspicious of him and began questioning him regarding his connection with the Avatar. Jaejoong just kept quiet the whole time and pretended to be innocent. If more people would find out that his sister is the Avatar, more problems might arise. He just cannot risk that.

***

Present Time

              After a long struggle of waking herself up from a long, wonderful rest, Taeyeon finally managed to open her pretty, sleepy eyes. Well, I think that was the best sleep I’ve had in a long while, she thought. Cool winds swept her hair as she lay on something soft and furry. Whatever this nice bed was, she wanted to stay on it forever. Remembering that she lost Jaejoong again just depressed her and now she never wants to leave this dream-like bed and face the harsh reality of life. Ah, this must be heaven…the cool breeze, the bright sunshine, the soft, white, fluffy bed, the view of the breath-taking clouds…

              Suddenly a human head popped out of nowhere, startling Taeyeon out of her dreams. “Hello? Are you finally awake now?”

              “Ahh!!!” Taeyeon screamed in shock and sat upright from where she was lying. “Who are you? Where am I? What is this?! What happened?”

              Upon sitting up, Taeyeon saw that she was actually high up in the clouds, flying on some strange, fluffy, cloud-like creature with a pretty human owner who had a messenger hawk that looked a lot like ginger on her shoulder. This might not be heaven, but it does certainly feel like a very real dream.

              “You were out cold in that forest and my friend Yoongbird found you,” the girl explained with a childishly sweet smile that showed all of her pearly-white teeth.

              “Yoongbird?” Suddenly the messenger hawk flew toward Taeyeon’s shoulder and pecked her on the head, exactly the way Ginger greeted her after delivering a letter. “Ginger? Is that you?”

              The bird squawked in approval. Yes, it was ginger, alright. “What the heck is going on? Did you finally deliver the letter to Sunny and Fany?”

              Upon hearing the words “Sunny and Fany,” the girl gulped in realization. “W-wait, you own this bird? Are you the Avatar?”

              “Unfortunately, I am. Goodness, I need to stop getting famous,” Taeyeon answered in annoyance. “Somebody pinch me. I don’t understand this dream.”

              In obedience to Taeyeon’s wish, the friendly girl immediately pinched Taeyeon’s cheek so hardly, making Taeyeon scream and wince in pain. “Owowow! That hurt!”

              The girl just laughed with her big, wide mouth and let Taeyeon’s reddened cheek go. “Kyaa!!! I pinched the Avatar’s face! Oh wow, who knew the Avatar would be so cute!”

              “What the heck is wrong with you? Who are you anyway?” Taeyeon asked as she rubbed her throbbing cheek.

              “I’m Yoona from the Western Air Temple, but I highly believe that I have a great amount of Fire Nation blood in my veins and that I should have been born a fire bender instead—”

              “Ugh, another weirdo…,” Taeyeon rolled her eyes and muttered as Yoona continued raving about how amazing the Fire Nation is compared to the Air Temples. “…and Seohyun was bad enough of an angelic freak and Sica’s strange ability to sleep for eternity is just…”

              “Hey, I heard that!” Yoona pouted and slammed her fist on Yoongsan’s soft fur.

              “Whatever, child. Just drop me down the ports past the forest where you found me please. My friends are probably worried sick looking for me,” Taeyeon said nonchalantly. She really did not have any more time for this nonsense and neither does she care about the world anymore. Besides, after failing to communicate with her past life and failing to chase down her brother, she has just gotten sick of her current position in life. If only resigning from being the Avatar was that easy, she will definitely just quit.

              “Okay then, Miss Cranky Avatar,” Yoona scoffed. Then she screamed and said, “Yoongsan, ka-ja!” (Let’s go!)

***

               After the scene he had caused at the pier, Jaejoong immediately ran into the forest to hide again. The feeling of guilt slowly crept upon him as he recalled how he caused Kyuhyun’s death. What will the others do to him once they find out that he has killed one of their own? They will definitely suspect him to be an enemy of the secret clan and will surely kill him too. The leader is not a very merciful man, especially not to Jaejoong. The leader greatly despised him for no reason. He cannot let the leader know about this murder. That is one more secret to add in his list.

              Back in the secret cabin in the woods—the temporary base they set up to receive Changmin’s parcel, Jaejoong took the ostrich horse tied by a tree and rode it out of there. He travelled far away from the main island’s northern port to a deserted town a few miles away. He did not eat of stop for rest. He just went on until he finally reached it.

              After hours of travelling, he arrived at a seemingly empty ruined mansion in the deserted town. Inside, the mansion was crumbling and dusty. The ceiling panels were falling apart and the floor boards had plenty of cracks. Cobwebs even spread throughout the corners. It was not a very appealing sight, but it was good enough for a secret base. Since no one had been to this town for hundreds of years, they underground annihilation group stayed in this wreck. No one would ever find them there.

              Past the main hall was an old heavy carpet. Under it was a small latch for an underground staircase. Jaejoong pulled up the latch to open the entrance to the hidden staircase and proceeded to descend down the steps. Down the dark hall, Jaejoong took one of the posted torches and used spark rocks to light up a flame. The long, dark underground hall was quite extensive, but soon, Jaejoong could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Welcome to the official secret base.

              The secret base was made out of a huge, enclosed metal dome deep under the small town ruins. In the dome are training facilities, meeting chambers, and some dorms. This is where the annihilation group prepares for their attacks and plans. About a hundred members come here for their cause. The other hundreds are stationed in different parts of the world and constantly inform the leader of the current situations, just like Kyuhyun and Changmin.

              As mentioned before, everyone here has their own motives. However, one of their main objectives is to annihilate everyone on the so called “hit list.” That hit list included most of the world’s royalties, including the Avatar, who happened to be adopted by royalty. Everyone in the group knows every name in the hit list, but not everyone knows why all of those people had to be killed. Only the Fire Nation members know the “bigger” objective, and Jaejoong happened to be one of them. All the other members from other cultural backgrounds are naïve of the bigger objective.

              “Well, well, if it isn’t the guy who failed to poison the Firelord,” scoffed this fourteen-year-old kid in a rather playful tone when he saw Jaejoong enter. The other young trainees chuckled along with him.

              Jaejoong glared at him and spat at the kid’s direction. “Shut up if you know what’s good for you.”

              He still remembered that day—the day of Taeyeon’s princess coronation about two years ago when he tried to poison the Firelord…

***

About two years ago, months after the volcanic eruption…

              “Ah, it’s you,” said the leader in a low, displeased tone. This husky voice had the power to scare just about anyone.

              “Yes, they said that you asked for me,” Jaejoong humbly said as he knelt down before the leader.

              “Well, you are nothing but a useless fool, but now I actually have an important job for you,” the leader began. “As you very well know, Firelord Soon-Jae is at the very top of the hit list. I heard from Byun Baekhyun that a new princess is about to be crowned in a week’s time. I think this is a great opportunity.”

              “Tch…You trust that stupid twelve year old?” Jaejoong scoffed.

              “That ‘stupid twelve year old,’” the leader raised his voice, “happens to have connections within the palace through his father. Now listen, if you know what’s good for you.”

              Jaejoong sat in silence.

              “The Firelord is willing to hire new workers for the event, including chefs and kitchen workers. I want you to go in there and volunteer to become a chef. Before they hire you, you will be tested to ensure that only the best cooks are allowed into the palace. What better person could be a chef but you? With your amazing skills, they will be begging you to enter the palace immediately.”

              “Thanks for the compliments, but then what?” Jaejoong raised an eyebrow.

              “When you get in, be sure to poison the Firelord. Once you’ve done your job, leave the event.”

***

              “Well, how can you even fail at poisoning the Firelord? All you had to do was pour the poison all over their food! It was that easy and yet you failed big time!” Baekhyun scoffed some more.

              Yes, Jaejoong failed. He failed because he found out that Taeyeon was the princess being crowned at the special event. He failed because he found out that Taeyeon was still alive. He failed because he would rather be on Taeyeon’s side. Now he was stuck in this rut of an annihilation group.  The leader would never allow him to go freely after knowing all their secret plans. Either he quits and dies or he stays secretly against them.

              “If you think killing the Firelord is that easy, then why not do it yourself, you prissy little brat!” Jaejoong yelled. “Or else just shut the hell up!”

              “Yeah, Baekhyun, you better shut up,” said this other tall fourteen year old with the big elf-like ears. “He might poison your food or something ‘cause he doesn’t have any bending to fight with.”

              A few more giggles echoed around. Jaejoong was not pleased. If his best friend Yunho was here, Yunho would totally kick those stupid kids’ butts. Jaejoong cannot just fight them alone though. Those young fire benders were being trained to become high generals for the upcoming chaos. Baekhyun, the loud kid who kept teasing him, was the son of a former army officer during Firelord Sooman’s reign. Baekhyun’s friend, Chanyeol—the tall kid with the weird ears, is a fire bending prodigy given the nickname “Phoenix.” That’s not it. There’s also this other quieter kid named Chen, who can create lightning from his fingertips as an extension of his fire bending. As for Jaejoong, all he has are shurikens, swords, and knives.

(Baekhyun, Chanyeol, & Chen)

              “Jaejun Hyung, please don’t mind them. They’re just fooling around,” Chen spoke up, silencing Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s chortles. At least this kid was more polite.

              “Whatever.”

***

              Yoongsan the flying bison flew up north back to the ports in a quick sweeping wind. Taeyeon quickly hung on to the bison’s thick white fur in fear of falling off. It was not exactly the most pleasant ride she ever had; in fact, she hated it more than sailing in the endless ocean. Riding on the huge beast’s was a lot more terrifying and the atmospheric winds were wilder than the ocean waves.

              After landing by the mountains, Taeyeon and Yoona walked down to the ports. However, to Taeyeon’s disappointment, Kyuhyun’s ship was no longer there. It seemed that they already left.

              “Sica! Seohyun! Sica!” Taeyeon called out, but as expected, they could not reply when they are no longer there. “Ugh, where could they be?”

              “They might have already left,” Yoona pointed out the obvious. Then a huge grin began to form across her face. “Oh well, I guess you’re stuck with me then!” Then Yoona hung her long arm around Taeyeon’s neck.

              “No, no, no. They wouldn’t just leave me like this,” Taeyeon shook her head to free herself from Yoona’s arm. “I’m going to stay here and wait for them. They might come back for me.”

              Hours passed, but no one came. Taeyeon and Yoona just sat there until finally Yoona got bored and bought herself some fire flakes to eat. When it was almost sunset, Yoona just sighed and said, “Avatar, let’s face it; they’re not coming.”

              “Arrgggh!!!” Taeyeon screamed in frustration and began to sob. “Why is everyone leaving me like this?! I hate my stupid, miserable life!”

              “Whoa, calm down,” Yoona said as she comfortingly rubbed Taeyeon’s back. “You still have me, you know.”

              “I don’t even know who you are!” Taeyeon yelled, not even thinking clearly anymore.

              “I told you I’m Yoona, right?”

              “Whatever!”

***

              Jaejoong stared up at the ceiling as he lay down on the uncomfortable bed in the dorm cells. My life , he thought. Why did Taeyeon have to complicate my situation by being part of the hit list? If she was not adopted by the Firelord and discovered as the Avatar, things wouldn’t have to be too complicated for me. That way, I would not have to secretly protect her and be very confused with my allegiance. Now I honestly don’t know what to do. I’m not sure I can protect you from all these people who would try to kill you in the near future, he sighed.

              He had more questions. How did Taeyeon survive the volcanic eruption two years ago? How did she get adopted by the Firelord? Is it really fate that kept her alive all this time? Will fate keep her alive as the chaos comes?

              Ah, Taeyeon. Please stay strong. Wherever you are, I pray for your safety. As he closed his eyes, he dreamed of the day he first laid eyes on Taeyeon…

About seventeen years ago…

              “It’s a girl!” cried Yunho’s mother, the midwife. As soon as they heard the baby’s cries from outside the crude hut, four year olds Jaejoong and Yunho, and the baby’s father entered the scene to have a look. Inside the hut, they saw the midwife hand a crying little infant wrapped in swaddling cloth to the baby’s mother. The baby had a rather reddish skin and a thin layer of light brown hair on her tiny head. Jaejoong could not help but find her strange. He had never seen a new born baby before.

              “She’s beautiful…,” the mother smiled with tears of joy in her eyes.

              “I think she looks weird,” Jaejoong whispered to Yunho.

              “All babies look like that,” Yunho said in his little four-year-old voice.

              “Come, Jae-jae, have a look at your new little sister,” said the mother.

              Jaejoong and Yunho slowly approached the crying baby to look closer. The baby’s father just stood there without saying anything. He seemed to be preoccupied with something else in his thoughts.

              “Why is she crying? Is she sad?” little Jaejoong innocently asked.

              “No dear, she just needs a little comfort,” the mother replied. “Would you like to touch her head? Be gentle, alright?”

              As Jaejoong carefully felt the baby girl’s hair, the baby slowly calmed down and stopped crying. Jaejoong smiled. The baby was adorable after all. After Jaejoong caressed her cheeks, she slowly fell asleep in her mother’s arms.

              “So, what do you plan on naming her?” asked Yunho’s mother.

              The mother thought for a while before replying. Finally, she said, “Since she is a very calm child, I will call her ‘Taeyeon.' Jaejoong, since you have a new baby sister, will you promise to watch over her and be a good big brother to her?"

               "Yes. I promise." Sleep tight, baby sister, young Jaejoong said in his thoughts as he watched baby Taeyeon sleep peacefully in her mother’s arms. I, your brother Jaejoong, will always look after you. I promise.

***        

              Later that night, Taeyeon and Yoona built a campfire up in the mountains near the ports. Our young Avatar is still depressed while this air bender kid tried her best to cheer her up. Since Taeyeon was out of money, Yoona had to steal some food at the stalls for their dinner. Yoona ate most of the food though. Taeyeon did not feel hungry at the moment. She was too upset over her “stupid existence.”

              “…and then you know this kid Sehun and I angered all the lemurs at the Southern Air Temple once. It was so funny. Then Luhan, that weirdo monk who can’t air bend told us to stop—,” Yoona continued telling her “funny” stories but Taeyeon was not really listening.

              “Don’t you have any better things to do, like, I don’t know, go back to your monk clan or something?” Taeyeon finally spoke up, interrupting Yoona’s story. “I think it would be better if you just left me alone like the rest of the people in my life, because honestly, I’m just sick and tired of getting attached to people who will just leave me empty.”

              Yoona adorably pouted before the depressed Taeyeon. “But I don’t want to leave you. Honestly, I ran away from home. I doubt that they’ll ever want me back. In fact, I don’t even want to go back. Now I’m with the Avatar I just feel happier. I’m not sure why. You haven’t even told me your name yet. Or should I just call you ‘Avatar’?”

              “Taeyeon. Kim Taeyeon,” Taeyeon said nonchalantly.

              “Oh my gosh, nice to meet you!” Yoona suddenly became energetic again like she just met a celebrity. “I’m sixteen. What about you?”

              “Seventeen.”

              “Oh, so you’re an eonni,” Yoona nodded to herself. Then she shot up again, “Can I call you ‘Eonni’?”

              “Whatever.”

              “Yay! Great! I’ll call you ‘Eonni’ from now on,” Yoona giggled to herself. “Look, I promise you from now on that I will always be by your side no matter what. I don’t care if I just met you. As long as I’m on the Avatar’s side, I know I’m on the right track.”

              “So, why did you leave home exactly?” Taeyeon asked in a serious note.

              “Well, here’s the thing. I’m too fed up with being a stupid monk, so I left,” Yoona said simply.

              “So you just left? Just like that?” If only Taeyeon’s situation was as easy as that, she would have left the Avatar position a long time ago.

              “Yeah. Plus, nobody believes me anyway. They think I’m too stubborn, too misbehaved, too rebellious…,” Yoona said as if she was angry. Taeyeon found her cute. Then Yoona leaned closer to her and continued in a quieter voice, “…and they all think I’m crazy whenever I say I can see the future.”

              “Really?” Even Taeyeon found that difficult to believe. Can people really have the ability to see the future? Then she remembered what Sica said happened when she got sick a few months ago in the North Pole. Taeyeon predicted Seohyun being in danger in the glaciers. However, Taeyeon does not really remember what had happened during the whole time that she was sick. If only she could remember that whole event…

              “Yes. Well, at least I think I can see the future,” Yoona said doubtfully. “It doesn’t really happen often and I’m not sure if what I see is actually the future or not. In fact, I don’t think I have ever seen any of my predictions come to pass.”

              Taeyeon sneered and chuckled with a snort. This air bender girl is pathetic. “Well, no wonder they don’t believe you.”

              “No, but seriously, I’m sure of something though. The Western Air Temple will definitely be attacked by fire benders. Many female air benders from the Western Air Temple will die, and some of them will surrender to the fire benders’ allegiance. You don’t think I’m crazy, right?”

              “Why would fire benders just attack the Western Air Temple like that? That doesn’t make any sense. The Firelord would never allow it, and punish the attackers right away,” Taeyeon tried defending her nation.

              “Oh, but it’s true. I have a strong feeling about it. In fact, the Firelord will personally send his soldiers to do it,” Yoona said so animatedly. “And since those monks don’t believe me, I’ll just wait around until it happens so I can save the day and say, ‘Ha! I told you so!’”

              Taeyeon froze in her seat and stared at the burning firewood. “No way… The Firelord would never do such a thing. I know him. He is the father who adopted me into the family. Plus, Fany and Sunny even told me stories of visiting the Western Air Temple before,” she mumbled. Then she turned to Yoona and said, “I hope what you say doesn’t come true.”

***

              Jaejoong tossed and turned all night in his sleep. After shedding Kyuhyun’s blood, more guilt took over him. Nightmares also started haunting him. Just like Taeyeon, he usually gets the same nightmares over and over again and he has gotten used to it, but this time, his nightmare was worse than usual.

              His nightmare consisted of different frames of memories from his past, some even too long ago for him to remember. Flashes of him as a three-year-old boy locked in a dark closet appeared before his eyes. He saw an older girl with sad, sincere eyes that looked just like him closing the closet door. He could not remember who she was but she looked very familiar. Then these images were replaced with his childhood memories of Taeyeon and Yunho, who were favored by his father over him. He saw his father punishing him for his failures; he saw his miserable life as a child who was never loved by his cruel father. Then there were flashes of the volcanic eruption seen from very far away in the ocean. Almost everything was filled with sadness and regret.

              When he woke up, he saw Baekhyun standing before his bed. So he got up and said to him, “What the hell do you want from me now?”

              “It’s almost time for assembly at the main hall,” Baekhyun said nonchalantly. “You wouldn’t want to be late for this one. I heard that the leader has figured out a way to resolve the ‘Avatar problem.’ As you very well know, our big plans won’t last if the Avatar is around…”

              “He figured out how to kill the Avatar forever?” Jaejoong immediately stood up in shock. Usually when the current Avatar dies, he or she will just be reborn again into a different person. For many generations, the Avatar had always maintained the peace and balance between all four nations. Anyone who tried to upset the peace was always vanquished by the Avatar. What would happen if the Avatar should die? Who knows what utter chaos and ruin will the world fall into?

***

              The next day, Taeyeon woke up lying down on Yoongsan’s soft fur. Wow, this giant, fluffy, flying monster really improves my sleep, she thought. “But wait a second,” she said as she sat up. “Did I have another dream of Avatar Leeteuk again last night?” Taeyeon scratched her head, hoping the memories would come back. She cannot remember much of anything though. “Stupid dreams…”

              “Good morning Avatar! Or should I say Avatar Taeyeon Eonni!” exclaimed Yoona as she leaped up on Yoongsan’s back using her air bending. Then she started laughing uncontrollably and said, “You’re awesome—like super awesome!”

              Taeyeon just looked at the eccentric girl oddly and asked, “Why?”

              Then Yoona started rolling on Yoongsan’s fur and laughed out, “You talk in your sleep!”

              “Tch, I already know that. You don’t have to remind me,” Taeyeon said nonchalantly as she got up to wash her face by the mountain stream. After flushing her face with cold water, she turned to Yoona and said, “Hey, you’re a monk, right?”

              “No, not really.” Yoona sat up from rolling on Yoongsan’s fur.

              “I thought all air benders were monks?” Taeyeon dried her face with a towel.

              “Except for me. I have renounced my monk-ship a long time ago.”

              “Can you meditate though?” Taeyeon remembered what Suho told her and Sica at the North Pole: “…The knowledge and wisdom of the previous Avatars should be available to you if communicate with them… Why not try meditating?”

              “Eh, meditating is way too boring.” Yoona lied down on Yoongsan again. Then she began blowing air from , causing the leaves on the canopy of tree branches to stir. “The monks do that all the time for their ‘spiritual enlightenment.’ I think it’s nothing but a waste of time—same thing as idleness. I mean all they ever do is sit around and hum a monotone for hours doing nothing else. I doubt anyone would reach any sort of enlightenment that way.”

              “Well, a friend of mine thinks it’ll be a good idea to try for me to communicate with my past lives. I’ve tried meditating once, but I guess I probably didn’t do it the right way. Can you please teach me how anyway?”

              “Communicate with past lives? Wow that’s awesome,” Yoona said with a gaped mouth.

              “Well, can you teach me how?”

              “Okay, whatever you say, Avatar,” Yoona smiled. Then she leaned closer to Taeyeon and whispered, “You should know, I never meditate, but I have a great amount of spiritual energy. I think this great spiritual energy enables me to see the future and parallel worlds and such…”

              Here we go again—Yoona talking about strange supernatural things, Taeyeon thought. Last night, Yoona told her about parallel universes and worlds with no bending. She also told her about heavenly beings such as angels and demons, which Taeyeon sort of found creepy and outlandish. Then there were other things such as people with time control, teleportation, shape-shifting… She even told Taeyeon the really long story about the legend of the Tree of Life and the Red Force, though Taeyeon could barely understand anything. Taeyeon just did not want to disappoint Yoona by telling her that she doesn’t entirely believe everything so she just let Yoona talk the whole time.

              “Anyway, let’s start meditating, shall we?”

***

              The annihilation group’s leader stood before the crowd with great dignity as fit for royalty. With one sharp look, the whole hall was silent. Everyone immediately lent their ears.

              Jaejoong trembled on his place. He was too scared to know what the leader was about to announce concerning the extermination of the Avatar. He was scared for Taeyeon, for the world, and for himself. Praying silently that the plan would never work was his only chance for survival.

              “After years of long, arduous research, I have finally pieced together the puzzles of the Avatar’s enigma,” the leader began with a powerful voice filled with authority. “And I am proud to announce that I have figured out how to get rid of the Avatar for good in order for our plans to go smoothly.”

              A round of applause and cheers echoed around the halls. Jaejoong just stayed silent.

              “As you all very well know, after each generation, the Avatar gets reborn, making him or her impossible to destroy. However, there is a way to officially obliterate the Avatar from existence.

              “During my lifetime, I have acquired information from a library in the deserts of the Earth Kingdom. In the library, I have read about the very first Avatar, named Avatar Wan. The scrolls clearly say that Avatar Wan fused with the Great Spirit Raava, forming the first ever Avatar. Ever since then, Raava’s spirit remained with the people in the form of the Avatar’s human body.

              “Now, let’s say, perhaps, Raava becomes separated from the human Avatar’s body and killed. Then the Avatar would be no more. But how, you ask, can we accomplish this? Well, the answer is simpler than you think.

              “During my travels from the last two years, I came across a peculiar young man from the Southern Air Temple. In the long history of the Air Nomads, all children were born with bending due to their great spiritual legacy. However, this particular young man had no bending. Instead, he has a different power that no one else ever had in history. He could talk with his mind—relay messages and images without the use of his mouth. He also claims to have insight into the future, exorcise—remove spirits from a person’s body, and cause the death of spirits by his own will. If we can make him get rid of Raava’s spirit from the Avatar’s body, then the Avatar is finished. All we have to do is to make him cooperate.”

              Jaejoong’s eyes dilated in fear. This news sounded too outlandish to be true. Can a human being really do all those sorts of things? If so, what about Taeyeon? Will she be able to defend herself? Growing up, Taeyeon was never the toughest kid in town. She often got bullied by the other kids and he and Yunho usually had the job of driving them away. Maybe I should put a little more faith on Taeyeon. She is the Avatar after all. The Avatar had always saved the day for countless of centuries. But what if the leader successfully gets rid of the Avatar’s spirit? What happens then?

***

              “Okay Eonni, just sit still and do as I say.”

              Taeyeon nodded and fixed her sitting posture. With her back straight, her hands loose and relaxed, and her legs crossed, she was set for meditation.

              “Now close your eyes,” Yoona ordered. Taeyeon obeyed. Yoona closed her eyes too. “Take a deep breath, and slowly exhale…”

              Suddenly, as Yoona slowly exhaled, a voice echoed in her head. It was more like a subtle whisper coming from the wind, but she heard it loud and clear, as if a gong was struck right on her face. In an instant, Yoona’s concentration was broken. Taeyeon did not hear anything though.

              “Eonni!” she exclaimed, making Taeyeon open her eyes to see what was going on. “Th-the future—something bad will happen!”

              Taeyeon was dazed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

              “I-I heard it in the wind…,” said the jittery air bender. “When I get future sight, I just hear it like that in the wind… It’s hard to explain but…”

              “What the heck are you talking about?”

              “I heard it in the wind. Something bad will happen to you. You will be betrayed by someone very close to you soon.”

Author's note:

Wah... big news. Taeyeon is dating Baekhyun? o.e Can't believe it, but if Taengoo is happy, then I'm happy. I don't necessarily ship it though...  Anyway, I already made up my mind early on that Baekhyun should be a villain just like Kyuhyun lol sorry

Btw, I'm going to Seoul then to the Philippines in July. YAY!