Dawn of a New Prince (Star Wars/Avatar Crossover)

"You have opened six or your chakras. That should help you, but I'm afraid that none of you will reach your full potential with the Seventh locked. Furthermore, if Aang chooses attachment, he will not be able to go into the Avatar state at all," Pathik told Katara with a sigh, "The chakras and the Jedi path are the only paths I know."

Katara frowned. "It just doesn't seem right to me," she said. "I... I don't know if I could give up the things that make me want to protect this world in the first place." She glanced at Aang as she spoke.

Toph was silent for a long moment. And then she sighed.

"What do I need to do?"

"W-wait, what?!" Sokka asked, surprised at what Toph was saying. If Toph let go of all attachments.... He felt something like a hand grip his heart and squeeze tight, "No! You can't!"

Pathik regarded Toph apprasingly, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, trying not to pay attention to Sokka's reaction. It hurt too much, and she knew she would second-guess herself if she tried to explain her reasoning. This was already tearing her to pieces. "I want to clear this last chakra."

Aang

For a long moment, Aang remained silent as the others talked back and forth with the Guru. After an internal debate with himself, the Avatar finally spoke. He tried to remain as calm as possible, despite the inner turmoil he felt.

"If I gave up the things that attached me to this world...that made me want to protect the people I know and love..." he glanced at Katara as he spoke that last word. "Then what reason would I have, as the Avatar, to fight Ozai or Vader in the first place? It's thinking like that that might turn me into an arrogant god, of sorts. After all, the reason the Avatar Spirit is born in human form is so I can relate to the people here, and not be some detached Spirit or god sitting atop a mountain."

Sokka grimaced, feeling his heart already breaking again. There was no use arguing with her. Once she made up her mind, she was too stubborn to change it.

"Then I'll do it too. I'm sick of not being able to protect people I care about," Sokka told the Guru, setting his face into a hardened expression and not looking at anyone else. He blinked, however, when he heard what Aang said.

"Then how will you defeat Vader?" Pathik asked Aang seriously.

"He will have us," said Katara, firmly, sticking up for Aang and his decision. "And together, we will find another way to defeat Vader. There has to be another way to master the Avatar State. And even if there isn't..." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We'll find another way."

She stood. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this either. Not if I want to be true to my feelings, my heart," she said.

Taking in a deep breath, she walked a short distance away, clearly having made her decision.

Toph, guilt tugging at her, clenched her fist.

Don't you see? I'm doing this for you, Sokka...

"Just tell me what to do," she said, again.

Aang

Aang opened his mouth to speak, but fell silent. A moment later his tattoos began to glow with a bright blue hue, and his eyes shone the same color.

"You speak of only one way Aang can master the Avatar State, Guru Pathik." Roku began. "But there is another way."

"Yeah. Aang will find another way," Sokka told her before frowning at Toph and saying, "I'll do it with you. I can't let you do this alone or live with it to see you changed that way unless I'm changed so I don't care."

Pathik sighed, rubbing his temples. This was proving difficult. Perhaps he should have spent less time alone up in this temple. He jumped, however, at the booming voice coming from the Avatar's mouth.

He bowed, "Avatar Roku... H-how?"

Katara, even from where she had retreated, noticed the change. She gasped. "A-Aang..." she said, shocked and confused. His current state looked so much like the wild, emotional whirlwinds he had fallen into in the past, when the Avatar State overwhelmed him.

It was like the North Pole, again, and he had been overtaken by another entity...

Toph, who was not nearly as used to this as Katara, shivered at the new presence. She drifted closer to Sokka.

Avatar Roku

"Aang is a portal to the living world that Avatars of the past can access, if we deem necessary. It is what we have done in the Avatar State, as well. Thus far, you have only spoken of one way Aang can master the Avatar State. The path you describe would lead to a dangerous road, one an Avatar is not meant to walk. After all, giving up all attachments was the mistake of the Jedi. Had Anakin Skywalker been publicly allowed to love his wife, then perhaps he could not have become Vader." Roku spoke.

Sokka frowned a bit, feeling the same fear as he always had when something like this happened to Aang. He hated to see the boy like this. It was him, but not him at the same time. He moved closer to Toph, gripping her hand protectively.

Pathik nodded his head, a suitably humble expression upon his face, "Then what is the right way to master the Avatar State?"

Toph gripped Sokka's hand, too. He knew how she felt for him; there was no longer any need to hide it. And she was far too shaken by this new side of the Avatar--one she had only "seen" once, and when he was very angry--to want to be without a comforting presence.

She jerked when she heard what Roku had to say. "Vader is the guy the guru's been talking about? That's why he was so mad when you mentioned his wife, Sokka."

Roku

"Aang--and by extension, his companions--must reach an inner peace with their emotions. In Aang's case, gaining peace with his feelings can help him control the raging beast that is the Avatar Spirit. It is the only way we know of that will not lead the Avatar down a dangerous path." Roku replied.

"Wow. Just my luck to hit a vein, huh?" Sokka asked wryly. He grimaced, "Well, that means he's still partly human. I don't know if that's better or worse."

He couldn't help but smile a bit at what Roku said. Detachment was overrated anyway.

"Very well, then, Avatar Roku," Pathik told the Avatar, "Your words are rise. They sound like an ancient wisdom that the Jedi forgot long ago, to our downfall."

"That's nice," said Toph, who was still listening, "but that still doesn't explain how we do this new thing. If we get to, I mean," she added, flushing.

Roku

"You must accept your emotions, allow yourself to love your friends and family, but never let it cloud your judgment, never let it guide you in your actions in battle." Roku said.

((....not the best explanation of how to do this, but I truly had no idea what I should have Roku say to explain it.))

(Yeah, I have no idea either.)

"Makes... sense," Sokka noted, feeling strange that he was answering some dead guy possessing Aang's body.

It did make sense. In a way, it was just another way of looking at what the guru had asked them to do. They could love, but they could not let their attachments allow them to ignore doing what was right and best for the greater good.

Be true to yourself...

Toph drew in a breath. "I was doing it for you, you know," she said, speaking to Sokka.

Sokka blinked, blushing a little at what Toph said. He raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "What do you mean?"

"When Vader said he was going to kill you," she said, slowly and carefully, "I didn't care what I had to do. I just knew I had to stop him. But..." Toph's shoulders drooped. "I threw everything I had at him, and it was nothing. He took me out without any problems. I lost part of my arm, but that's not what hurt the most."

She was silent for a moment or two. She sighed, fist clenching.

"What hurt the most was knowing he could've killed you, right then and there, and there was nothing I could've done about it. It didn't matter that I was the greatest earthbender in the world. It wasn't enough to save you, and it was just stupid luck he didn't do what he said he would.

"I don't want that to happen ever again," she said. "I want to be strong enough to protect you, to make sure you'll be okay. Even if it meant throwing my own happiness away, I didn't care, so long as you had a chance at finding your own happiness. So long as you were safe..."

Roku

"Good, you all understand. That is what you should do, then. Embrace your emotions, but do not let them guide you above what you know you should do. Using this, you all can open the last chakra, and Aang can master the Avatar State." Roku closed his eyes and the glow emitted from his eyes and tattoos slowly faded away. Aang gave a light groan and opened his eyes.

"Did....something important just happen?" Aang asked slowly, rubbing his now throbbing head. For some reason, he felt as if he had missed something important...

Katara sat beside Aang and helped support him. "Yes. Something big," she said, answering his question. "Roku just spoke through you, Aang." She smiled. "There is another way to mastering the Avatar State. You just... have to embrace your emotions but not let them rule you."

Aang

"Really? That's great to hear! That means I can lo..." Aang started, but glanced nervously toward Sokka and trailed off. As far as he knew, Sokka had no idea that he had confessed his feelings to Katara last night, and that she had accepted them. Aang wasn't sure this would be the best moment for him to find out about this. But, then again, after hearing what was going on between him and Toph, maybe he wouldn't mind...

"And you didn't think I felt the same way?" Sokka asked her with a frown, "I was willing to get hurt so he wouldn't hurt you. I hated how I couldn't do anything when he cut your hand off."

He gripped her hand, "I guess we'll have to do whatever it is we're supposed to do."

Pathik watched the young people with a thoughtful expression. It would seem that even he wasn't so wise as not to learn something new every now and then. He spoke, "This will require meditation. I pray that Vader does not detect this place for awhile."