Aang didn't answer. His eyes, wide and uncertain, merely stared at Tai Lung. Tai Lung smiled faintly, as though he had expected silence. There was no irritation in his tone when he finally spoke, only patience.
"Tens of thousands of years ago," Tai Lung began, "the two worlds were separated. Spirits and humans didn't coexist, they simply lived in parallel worlds, never crossing, never interfering."
He paced as he spoke, hands clasped behind his back "Only a few of the most ancient and powerful spirits could enter our world, and even then, only for a time. The Mother of Faces, the mightiest of them all, could touch our world but never linger. The Moon and the Ocean had to sacrifice their immortality, become mortal forms just to remain."
Aang frowned deeply. "But spirits lived among humans during Wan's era," he said.
Tai Lung nodded slowly. "Yes, that's true and it was because of Vaatu. Twenty thousand years ago, Vaatu defeated Raava during the Harmonic Convergence and then tried something no spirit had ever done before: he used the convergence to open two permanent gateways between our worlds."
Aang's breath caught. "The two portals Wan closed…"
"Exactly," said Tai Lung "Spirits were never meant to walk our world, Aang. Vaatu told me this himself and Wan Shi Tong, as well as the Mother of Faces, confirmed it. The spirits came here because of his actions. That was the beginning of the imbalance."
Aang's brows furrowed as Tai Lung continued, his voice taking on a lecturing rhythm.
"Ten thousand years later, when Wan and Raava merged during the next Harmonic Convergence, they closed the portals, sealing the boundary between the Spirit and Human Realms. But if that were truly the end of it…" He paused, tilting his head slightly. "Why do some of the lesser spirits still cross over, even now, when they have no power of their own like the great and ancient spirits?"
Aang hesitated. His lips parted, but no words came. At last, he admitted softly, "I… don't know."
Tai Lung's eyes gleamed. "Then tell me, Aang, what is the bridge between the human world and spirit world?"
Aang's expression faltered. "The… Avatar," he whispered.
"Correct." Tai Lung's voice was low, measured. "The Avatar is the bridge not only because he carries both human and spirit essence, but because his existence draws the two worlds closer. Where the Avatar stands, the veil thins. Lesser spirits can slip through where you are, Aang. And that is why Raava cannot remain in our world. If natural order is to be restored, she must return to where she belongs."
Aang remained silent for several breaths. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, conflicted. "If what you said is true… then why did you free Vaatu? Why imprison them both in jade?"
Tai Lung folded his arms, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I asked you before, why doesn't peace and balance persist despite Raava's presence?" He waited a moment, then continued, "For conceptual spirits to affect our world, they must sacrifice their immortality. This is the laws of the world that all spirits have to obey. Raava didn't do that, so her power had no effect in our world."
Aang said nothing, only listened.
"In the Spirit World, it is a different story, spirits like Raava and Vaatu influence other spirits simply by existing," Tai Lung said, his tone deepening, becoming almost solemn. "When Wan sealed Vaatu, the Spirit World lost the source of the chaos, and when he chose to remain in the human world, the source of order was also lost. The two worlds stabilized somehow as neither light nor darkness held sway. And Raava, bound to the Avatar cycle, remained immortal through reincarnation. Her concept of order never truly influenced balance and she merely turned into an enforcer through the Avatar."
Tai Lung's gaze softened, almost pitying. "I wanted to restore the natural balance to send Raava back to the Spirit World. But if I did so while Vaatu remained sealed, the Spirit World itself would fall out of balance. So, I had to free him… and then imprison them both together. In that jade, they sleep, neither affecting the other spirits or the world."
Aang blinked, his voice shaking. "So… you tricked Vaatu?"
Tai Lung shook his head, the faintest shadow of a smile crossing his face. "No. Vaatu knew exactly what I intended. He helped me willingly. Ten thousand years of isolation is torment even for a spirit of chaos. He agreed to help me seal them both again. Now they rest together, not aware if anything around them, they are merely in a deep sleep. To them, time is irrelevant. The rest of the ancient spirits like mother of faces and Wan Shi Tong will act as guardians of the two. Even you won't be allowed anywhere near Raava and Vaatu"
Aang was silent again for a few seconds before asking "What about the world's peace? Without the Avatar, how would the world stop wars? The Hundred Year War continued because I wasn't there to stop it."
"Yes, it's because of the Avatar that the war never ended, but not in the way you think." Tai Lung answered.
Aang frowned "What do you mean?"
Tai Lung replied with questions of his own "Do you really think the Fire Nation is strong enough to kill all the Air Nomads, conquer the Earth Kingdom, and threaten the Water Tribes on its own? You've seen their soldiers, Aang. The average Fire Nation soldier is not that different from an Earth Kingdom guard or a Water Tribe warrior. So tell me, how did the war go on for a hundred years? How did the Fire Nation keep winning?"
Aang opened his mouth, but only managed a weak, "I… I never thought about it before."
Tai Lung gave a faint nod as if expecting the answer.
"I have traveled the world," he said, "Wherever I went, the story was always the same 'One day, the Avatar will return to bring back the balance. We trust the Avatar, master of all four elements, to stop the Fire Nation.' That belief carried through an entire century."
Aang's brows drew together as Tai Lung continued.
"The war continued because of the Avatar," Tai Lung said firmly. "Because it's the Avatar's job to solve these problems, not the nations' or its people. That reliance is what made this war last so long. When the Air Nomads were attacked, the other nations stood by, watching, because they believed the Avatar would stop the Fire Nation. When the Fire Nation began invading the Earth Kingdom, the South Pole, and even the other Earth cities and lands stood watching again, waiting for the Avatar."
"That's wrong," Aang said, his voice rising, desperate to prove Tai Lung wrong. "There's resistance! People who fight even without the Avatar!"
Tai Lung nodded. "Yes," he agreed, "but how many are they, truly? And when did they begin fighting? It took decades before the first spark of resistance appeared, and it was out of desperation that the Avatar was not coming back to save the day."
Aang frowned, his fists clenching, clearly unwilling to accept it.
Tai Lung looked at him with quiet intensity. "Look at yourself, Aang. Why are you here?"
"Because you brought me here!" Aang snapped.
Tai Lung inclined his head. "And how did we reach this point? We declared to everyone I would face you and decide the fate of the world in a single duel, and everyone agreed. No one protested. No one felt wronged that their lives were being decided by the outcome of a fight between two individuals. Ba Sing Se showed no resistance or resentment toward the Fire Nation. Why antagonize the Fire Nation and risk trouble when someone will fix everything for us? We even noticed the flames of resistance began to quill across the Earth Kingdom after your return a year ago"
Aang blinked, the realization of the true meaning behind the strange actions in Ba Sing Se after the comet. Behind all of the Fire Nation recent actions and words.
"When I defeated you," Tai Lung continued, his voice low but clear, "I brought you before hundreds, thousands even, of your supporters and supposed friends. Not one of them tried to stop me. The truth is, their faith in the Avatar is their greatest weakness. When you fell at the height of your power, it broke them. They lost all will to fight or resist, just as they did in the North Pole siege and during the drill invasion. And when we return, you'll see, Azula will have everything done in the way we want, and no one will object. Their symbol of balance has fallen. It will take time before they wake up to their faults and stand on their own."
Aang's shoulders slumped. His gaze fell to the ground. He didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't deny it either. "And when they do wake up," he said softly, "it'll be too late. The Fire Nation will already control everything."
Tai Lung shook his head. "No," he said simply. "The Fire Nation will withdraw from most of the lands. We don't intend to continue occupying lands."
Aang's head snapped up, his eyes wide in disbelief. "What… what does that mean?"
Tai Lung's gaze softened, his voice steady and sure. "I said it before, I want peace and balance. War, conquest, occupation; they have no place in that vision. We intended to end the war even before Ba Sing Se fell, and our battle? It had no weight over the war, it is just a declaration of the end of an era, the era of the Avatar"
The air between them grew still. Aang stared at Tai Lung, unable to tell if he was looking at a mad monster or a mad dreamer. And yet, deep down, a quiet depressing understanding began to form… if everything said was true, then the balance Tai Lung sought might not be entirely wrong.