Darshi was floating.

The only color around her was a smoky grey, and she was unable to make out any objects. Despite the unexpectedness of this she was strangely calm. Time didn’t seem to apply here. She could have been like that for hours, days, seconds, even years. She could not tell. All she knew was when she righted the ground turned to a heathy green that budded across the landscape.

Her feet planted into earth, feeling the dewy, moist grass against the soles of her feet. She crouched, running her fingers against the blades as light began to show the surrounding trees and other natural artifacts. Everything worked in harmony. The boulders and chirps of crickets. The soft sounds of birds and the cliffs in the distance. Everything but the jaded blackish grey smudge on the horizon that slithered and withered, swallowing all light that permeated it.

“It’s the unbalance in the world.”

Darshi twisted, brows furrowed as she took in the giant owl that appeared out of thin air. It was one of the biggest animals she had seen, a single talon longer than the length of her hand. It was staring where she was, taking in the darkness that seemed to be thriving.

“It once was a portal between worlds, but now it is a stain in the spirit realm.”

Despite being able to hear words, the animal had not opened its beak. But then again if this was the spirit world the rules of her own world did not apply here.

“How did I get here?” she whispered, unable to take her eyes away from the darkness.

“Simple, really. You dreamed it.”

“I-how?” she asked muted. She never thought getting here would be as easy as that.

“You’re an air bender. Being able to access the spirit realm is in your blood.” Its head twisted to the side, the large, brown eyes twinkling in its skull. “I felt it when you came here. I don’t think anyone ever taught you how. You needed some help to land. You should be thankful I also have a form in both lands or else you might have stayed like that forever.”

Darshi was not sure if she should be afraid of the bird. A perusal of her powers had her freezing, realizing she did not have them. No thrum of her chi beneath her skin, her palms useless as she attempted to summon her element.

“Ah, yes. If you come in this way you can’t keep those. Only if you go through the portals do you get to have your powers.”

“Why?”

“I do not decide the rules of the universe.”

The things to her right began to fade, pulling her attention away from the darkness to the scene that was forming, a structure that was large and encompassing. Large flying bison’s with six legs were flying in the sky, little orange and yellow dots on their backs. Air benders were spinning in the air with the aid of staffs, avoiding the fiery balls that were attempting to shoot them out of the sky. Darshi let out a gasp as something warm shoved its way through her, turning around to see Fire Nation soldiers attacking.

“The beginning of the war,” the owl pondered. “The North, South, and West temples fell all at once. The Fire Lord at the time was a strategist and used the solstice to kill them off. About a decade later the final one fell, the one your mother came from.”

Darshi turned away, unable to stomach the slaughter of her people and what could have been. Without this war she would have been at one of those temples, studying air bending and learning what it meant to be born an Air Nomad. Instead she had to work it all out herself, with no true place to belong.

“You’re showing me the past?” she whispered.

“You’re showing me the past,” the bird retorted, the voice neither male nor female. “I do not decide what you see here.”

“I’ve never seen it to imagine it,” she denied. The closest she had come was that tapestry that had been behind Seokjin’s desk.

“There’s no need to see something yourself in order to be shown.”

The scene faded until an elaborate room was shown. The walls were an alabaster with gold littered throughout it. In the center was a cradle carved out of a beautiful, rich colored wood, a white blanket hanging off the side.

“What is that?”

“I think your conscious wants you to see it.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Something about that cradle frightened her more than all those fire benders combined.

“I very well can’t make you, girl.”

She took a hesitant step forward, something inside her unable to help herself. She did that until she was close enough to feel the wood against the palm of her hand and every detailed grove that had been dug in it.

A baby sat nestled in warm blankets of wool, pressed against a stuffed dragon and dressed in reds. As if it could sense her, the baby opened its eyes revealing caramel colored irises. At once she realized the baby was female, as if a voice had whispered it into her ear. It felt like a nightmare, Darshi's hands shaking as its cheeks rounded and a smile of pure delight bloomed across its face.

Darshi sat up with a gasp, struggling to orient herself. The fire had died down to embers and Jungkook was watching her unimpressed, a brow arched as he packed up his belongings. She wiped her forehead, feeling the sweat that had congregated there. She hurried to check where Seokjin was, seeing him ready and studying her from a log.

“Bad dream?” he probed carefully.

Darshi let out a sigh, rubbing her forehead. “Something like that.” She pulled herself out of her sleeping bag, struggling to compose herself.

There was a deep seeded knowledge in her that what she dreamed had been real. She had really visited the spirit planes and talked to some giant, all-knowing bird she’d never seen the likeness of before. She recalled the bubbling darkness and war between the air and fire benders; the little baby of the fire nation that gazed at her with such familiarity. She wasn’t sure if any of that was important. She had already been told the same rules did not apply to the spirit realm.

She paused, releasing a breath as it dawned on her that Seokjin was the answer to all of her problems. She finally had an idea on how to kill the Fire Lord.

She shook herself, finishing her chores and dousing the rest of the flames in dirt. That wasn’t her biggest problem at the moment. It would only answer part of the puzzle that was ridding the world of the Fire Lord.

“I thought about something while you were sleeping,” Seokjin said suddenly. “I want to prove to you I want to be here.”

“That you’re alright with murdering your father?” She picked harsh words on purpose, making sure he was aware of the reality of their situation.

After a slight hesitation there was a murmured, “Yes.”

Her brows raised, shouldering her backpack and nodding at Jungkook to begin the trek. “What is it then?”

“Have you heard of the avatar?”

Darshi raised a single brow. “Who hasn’t?”

He seemed to be struggling with what to say, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. “Do you think they're real?”

“No,” she answered shortly, sticking with the response she had always given.

“What if I told you they were?”

“I’d tell you to prove it.”

“Then I’d say the Fire Nation has been killing the avatar when they are babies and children for decades.”

Darshi stumbled, managing to catch herself as Jungkook whipped around to peer at the fire bender in disbelief.

“What?” Jungkook rumbled. “What are you talking about?”

Seokjin bit on his inner cheek, struggling with words. “It’s a safely guarded secret. The Fire Nation doesn’t want the world to have hope. Every time a whisper of a child being the possible avatar appeared my father sent out operatives unable to be traced back to him. A few years ago a little Earth Kingdom boy was killed. The world is so out of balance that a new avatar has not magically crop up as soon as the last one died. It takes longer each time for the avatar to manifest in a newborn babe.”

“What am I supposed to do with this information?”

None of this helped her now. It was disgusting what the Fire Lord was doing, but not surprising. Even if there was another avatar out there right now it would be nothing more than a baby or toddler. Quite useless to the rest of the world.

“I don’t know, I just- I thought it would be something you would like to be aware of.”

Without another w