General Fong sat uneasily at his table that was used for war planning. Sitting across from him was the calm militant Long Feng. He looked almost the same as when he had been Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, save for a large scar across his forehead left by Sokka's boomerang when he had tried to kill the Earth King. The proud General scowled as he was face to face with his new enemy while Long Feng smirked arrogantly. The leader of the Dai Li had surrounded Fong's base with over 5,000 men and forced negotiations between both sides. The General had no choice but to agree; even merely against enraged peasants Fong did not have enough soldiers and resources to win a battle of that scale painlessly.
As he calmly sipped cool liquid from an expensive cup Long Feng said, "You make excellent wine in the western Earth Kingdom. Is this sake?"
"It's plumb wine" Fong said with the air of someone who didn't want to speak any more than he had to.
"Exquisite" said Long Feng as he finished another gulp.
"You've threatened the lives of my men. I should have offered you water from the gutter" scoffed the General.
"Oh, really General I don't want this to be a hostile meeting between us. I honestly came here without the intention of taking any of your men's lives."
"Your barricade out there would seem to suggest otherwise." "Nothing more than precaution I assure you."
"Precaution for what?"
"To ensure that you hear what I have to say, that you listen to my proposal and then honestly consider it."
"You're a traitor to the Earth King" said Fong angrily. "Official military policy is to arrest or kill you on sight."
"Loyalty" Long Feng said admiringly. "That is something to be respected, though loyalty to the wrong person is something to be pitied."
"I don't have all day Long Feng. If you're going to attack, go ahead and do it so those of us who survive can get on with our lives."
"You are quite keen on fighting General I wonder why that is."
"Perhaps it's the war we've been fighting for the past 100 years. Oh, wait you wouldn't know about that! You were safe and sound in Ba Sing Se the entire time, weren't you?"
"Well, I won't deny that, though all of us would have been safe and sound if the war had ended a long time ago."
The expression on Fong's face relayed his annoyance at having the obvious explained to him.
Long Feng went on confidently, "This is a magnificent base, secluded in the West Coast. It is the perfect place to launch strategic assault against the Fire Nation, and yet all throughout the war you sat here and waited for the King's order, or for the Avatar to return. The former never came and the latter was a disappointment was it not?"
Fong clenched his fist and inhaled angrily. Long Feng's brow was risen as that happened. As if he had been forced to say it General Fong said, "Though the Avatar and I had our disagreements, he did defeat the Fire Lord and end the war."
"Yes, but how many men women, and children were killed while waiting for him to defeat Ozai? How many lives did his selfishness cost?"
Fong cringed again. Long Feng could tell as it went on the General agreed with his own statements less and less. "The Avatar had to learn the other three elements before he could…"
"Why?" Long Feng interrupted. "The Avatar State gives him godlike power and invincible wrath. He could have defeated the Fire Lord any time he wanted."
"The Avatar State is a power too difficult to be controlled so easily."
"Oh really? It is ironic that rumors and stories traveled to the Eastern Coast of the Earth Kingdom faster than the West when it is coming from the West."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, I think you know. According to all those legends and rumors out there the Avatar was losing his battle with Fire Lord Ozai at the beginning, the tables were turned when he entered the Avatar State. Surely you must know this."
"Of course I do, but the Fire Lord provoked him into entering it by threatening his life. It was nothing more than a primal response."
Long Feng's voice shifted ever so slightly into insurmountable confidence in that moment. "Is that so?" he said. "The way I heard it at the moment of truth Avatar Aang was about to bring the wrath of a thousand Avatars down on the Fire Lord to punish him for his misdeeds and yet the poor merciful naïve child stopped himself, sparring the evil savage of a bender's life. In order to do so he wrestled control of his body away from all the other Avatars. In other words, he was in complete control."
"I do not believe he had complete control when I first met him."
"He also did not during the majority of his fight with Ozai. Like I said, he wrestled control away from the other Avatars, showing he could have gained control of it any time he wanted if he tried hard enough."
Fong's face shifted ever so slightly, just barely revealing his shock. Long Feng sensed his defenses weakening. He had chosen the right nerve to pick at.
"Why would the Avatar not want to immediately defeat the Fire Lord if he had the ability?" Fong asked angrily, though not sounding angry at Long Feng.
"Oh, what miniscule glory could he possibly have to gain by merely becoming the hero of a single nation? The Avatar is far more ambitious than that" Long Feng said coolly.
"…What do you mean?"
"Well, if the Avatar simply faced the Fire Lord and killed him right away sure the Earth and Water Nations would praise him as a hero but what of the Fire Nation? The Avatar can never have absolute power over the world if the Fire Nation continued to hate him, so naturally a by-the-book Earth Kingdom invasion did not appeal to him. After all what would the Fire Nation hate more than being occupied by the people they are so used to oppressing. A rag-tag invasion where he disabled the Fire Lord single-handedly and caused as little damage to that nation as possible was much more up his alley."
"You're saying the Avatar wants absolute power over the world?"
"Well of course! Don't be naïve my friend. It has been the way it is throughout all history. The Avatar belongs to no single nation no matter where he is born and is so powerful and respected that he is allowed to do whatever he wants in any nation. The Kings of this world may believe they are in charge of it but trust me, the Avatars have always been the highest authority. Do you think it is a coincidence that Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko are such great friends? Achieving power was in their mutual interests."
Fong sighed and clasped his head in his hands. Long Feng knew that his defenses had crumbled to pieces.
"So that is why…" the weary General said. "…that is why he refused to help me fight the Fire Nation even with his awesome power. He didn't want to end the war to save the lives of innocents; he just wanted glory and power."
"Naturally" said Long Feng. "After all what concern are the problems of us mortals to the great Spiritual Medium of our world? Of course, it wouldn't have been so bad if the Earth King had ever ordered you to invade the Fire Nation before the Avatar came; after all, at least then you would have had a fighting chance."
"You're right Long Feng. For all of history those in power have cared too much for their own interests to do anything to help the rest of us. The Avatar, the Earth King, the Fire Lord, they're all the same. That's why the war lasted 100 years, not because there was no hope without the Avatar."
"And it is why our people continue to suffer even in the aftermath of the war because of cruel taxation and the ever-prolonged occupation by these Firebending savages" Long Feng added.
"Yes, it is."
"That is why my army is here today General Fong. We are here to change things. For centuries the current corrupt bureaucracy that is the Earth Nation Government has been allowed to rule unopposed and not give its citizens so much as a sideways glance. These men surrounding your fortress are not merely the upper-crust of Earth Kingdom society; many of them are peasants and farmers, the main victims of the war. They are tired of being mistreated and ignored. We are going to rebuild our country into a true paradise, with wise caring men leading it. Is that something that interests you General?"
Long Feng stood up and extended his hand across the table welcomingly. For a second Fong merely stared at it then he too rose and clasped The Liberator's hand.
"All right, I'm in."
Aang glided across the air with his staff and landed on a stretch of land on the outskirts of the Si Wong desert. The remnants of a deserted camp surrounded the area and it appeared it had been a long time since it had been abandoned.
"Ugh, this is the millionth Spirit-damned dead-end I've found!" cursed Aang. "Every time I think I'm getting close to Long Feng he slinks away!"
Aang kicked the dust beneath his legs and grunted angrily. He felt his foot lightly brush against something on the ground. He bent down and picked it up. It was a torn piece of cloth wish writing firmly stitched onto it.
"The seal of the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se" Aang read. He smirked. "Long Feng, I bet a Shirshu could easily use this." He popped the wings out his glider and began flying.