Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku (Chronicles of the Avatar Book 5)

by Randy Ribay

“I’m disappointed it’s not you, but I’m not surprised,” Fire Lord Taiso had told Sozin, who hid the hurt well. “However, you may still be of great use to our nation. Tend to your friendship like a fire, then learn to bend it to your will.”

“Avatar or not, you’re still so ugly, Koh wouldn’t take that face even if you tried giving it to him for free.”

His friend was gone. And his heart burned like wildfire.

“In order to fly, one must first learn to let go of the ground.”

still uncomfortable around open water.

She had made her point.

I understand her point, but I don't think we should shut down charity ventures just because we can't answer all these questions IN THE MOMENT

“If you are to be a good Avatar, you must understand that you are a spirit of no nation.

They believed Szeto’s official attachment to the Fire Nation wove bias into every institution he helped establish, every protocol he helped craft, every decision he influenced. They warned that this would become more apparent as the years passed—and that the consequences would be disastrous.

be forever known as the False Avatar who descended into madness.

DOING MY BOY YUN DIRTY

This box contains message scrolls that arrived for you while we were traveling. Some come from your friends and family in the Fire Nation. Others are from those across the world who seek the Avatar’s help with one matter or another. You asked me how you might learn detachment. Here is a way to begin: Read not a single one.

lifted the box’s lid,

Pandora's box

Sozin sighed. Dalisay had “overlooked” his obvious mistake. She couldn’t even meet his eyes. Roku had never let him win. Their games were hard-fought, lasting for hours and often ending in a draw. The last time they had played was a few nights before Roku’s departure. Sozin had overreached with his relentlessly aggressive style, and Roku’s more patient and conservative approach paid off as he formed a Harmony Ring that Sozin had overlooked. Sozin lit the board aflame and accused Roku of cheating, while Roku simply leaned back with a self-satisfied smile and his fingers laced behind his head.

Living on an archipelago meant nearly all Fire Nationals knew their way around an oar,

But Roku is afraid of open water. Interesting

Several shards of the stone that had protected his body mere moments ago were now lodged into his stomach, and he was slowly bleeding out. He didn’t have long.

“Look at you, killer! Guess you’re more than some pampered prince.” Sozin blinked, emerging from his shock. Kozaru’s cheer was overwhelming, a clear sign that her respect for Sozin had grown. But Dalisay’s face had gone pale, and she kept her distance from them both. She wasn’t impressed by Sozin—but she feared him in a new way. Which, Sozin supposed, was another form of respect. Was killing really all it took?

remind them who properly owns it.”

“Maybe it’s less about being a spirit of no nation, and more about being a spirit of all nations.”

The Avatar title and airbending training must already be going to Roku’s head.

It was commonly understood that to master bending, one’s spirit had to be attuned to the qualities of one’s bending element. Firebenders had to stoke their determination, their will. Airbenders—from what Sister Disha had taught him so far—needed to relinquish their will and accept the openness of freedom.

“And what about all your silly slang?” “What silly slang?” Gyatso scoffed. “Are you going to pretend that you don’t greet your countrymen with a hearty ‘Flamey-o, hotman!’?” “Nobody says that,” Roku said. “Not yet,” Gyatso said with a mischievous smile. “But give me some time.”

Roku stood and started walking. “Um.” Gyatso pointed his staff in the opposite direction. “Northeast is that way.”

A Zoro sense of direction lol

“You’re not into plants and you’re not into birds. What are you into?” Roku thought about it. “I’m more of a dragon guy.” Gyatso scoffed. “You’re not a dragon guy.” “You don’t know me.” “I know you enough to know that you want people to think you’re a dragon guy but aren’t really a dragon guy.”

“Maybe you don’t need to stop loving her to find your balance again,” he offered. “Maybe it’s that you need to figure out what it means to love her when she’s no longer with you.”

“It is admirable that you respect life—we need more in our clan like you. I hope your empathy does not fade with time as often happens as we age. But empathy can cloud our judgment more than the fog clouds our island. Never let it blind you from seeing the truth, from doing what must be done at the most critical moment.”

“Use your airbending!” Roku said. “Gee, why didn’t I think of that?”

“I’m over this fog,” Roku said. “Eh,” Gyatso said. “It keeps it interesting.”

Roku stepped forward. “And if you answer some questions.” Gyatso stared at Roku. “Arm first. Then questions.” “Questions first. Then arm. Maybe.” “Arm.” “Questions.” “Arm.” “Questions.” “Arm,” the Earthbender chimed in. “Then we talk.”

“You said you’d talk after my friend put your arm back together.” Gyatso smirked. “‘Friend’?” Roku ignored him.

Roku remembered Sozin once telling him that there were legends of Earthbenders so skilled at sensing seismic vibrations that they could tell if someone was lying by the way their heart rate or breathing changed.

and Azula

She fought for justice because she could recognize injustice. She experienced it firsthand. She survived it. Her heart was always with the poor, the broken, the oppressed. That’s why she was a great Avatar. You? You—your family, your clan, your nation—are the oppressor. What can you offer as Avatar when you can’t even understand that?”

DAMN

But in the meantime, illegal activity must be punished. Such was the bedrock of civilization—a truth that had always escaped the Earth Kingdom.

but then that just creates more crimes

In their rare moments of down time, Yasu began to go to Sozin more often than to Roku. So when Sozin and Yasu sparred, Roku studied. When Sozin and Yasu played Pai Sho together, Roku went to the theater. When Sozin and Yasu snuck out to talk to girls, Roku stayed in bed. They were leaving him behind.

“It should have been me,” Roku said. To be nothing might be a mercy compared to living the rest of his life existing as half of himself.

“It’s useless to linger in the past,” Sozin said gently after a few more moments—which Roku noticed wasn’t a disagreement. “We can’t ever change what’s happened.”

people were not their governments.

Before departing for the island, he had sent Kozaru to swipe the journal from Roku’s family home for this specific reason. He still felt guilty, but he reminded himself the betrayal of trust was for the sake of the Fire Nation.

Sozin’s words had been honest so far, but he began to bend the truth.

“Cool knife,” he said. “Sharp knife,” she said.

“Later then,” Gyatso said, dropping the star apples back into his pouch. “I wonder if they’d make a good pie filling.” “Pie?” “Yeah, pie.”

“According to the philosophers, each person’s natural vibrations create a rhythm as unique as their fingerprints.” The bowstring finally came to a rest, so Gyatso plucked it again. “And just as two or more complimentary notes in music can create harmonies, the philosophers believed our vibrations sometimes ‘harmonize’ with others.” He handed the bow back to her. “This is why we might feel drawn to certain people more than others, even before we really get to know them.”

the spirits didn’t work like that. They didn’t answer human requests, and they didn’t strike deals to parcel out their power in exchange for praise. They were incomprehensible, their motivations and reasonings unfathomable. They regarded humans as humans regarded ants: only concerned when the collective—and often unintentional—actions of the ants impacted some corner of their own world.