* Second attempt at writing this chapter ~ There are so many plotholes in my earlier writing that I wish I could travel back in time and strangle myself. Anyway, we got to finish this Soulbending book so that I can start a decent TLOK one. Now, on with the show!*  

"Airon!" Rei called out, watching Airon pounce at her brother with such a force that he was thrown through the wall. Airon stopped his charge, watching as Dai stumbled to get back to his feet but soon his knees buckled underneath him and he fell into the gravel.

Airon stood with his head high and his proudness full on display. The fur beneath his head was long and resembled a lion's mane, shining a gentle white glow as his strong muscles complemented him splendidly. His antlers stood high, much higher than Rei could remember it had been. They struck out like branches, appearing as if nature had placed a crown on him. His blue eyes were shining, glowing even, pulsating the same gentle light the gem on his forehead was emitting.

"Airon..." Rei muttered, the mighty stag turning his head to look at her. With his eyes glowing, Rei could see no pupil and her body tensed. He looked so... powerful.

How is that possible, considering the actions leading up to their capture?

"You look different," she muttered in a small voice, desperate for answers.

"Speak for yourself," he said in a gentle voice, nodding his head towards her. It only confused her more.

"So you're Airon?" he snapped his head back to Dai, seeing the captain on his feet and ready for more. Blood seeped through his clothes, and his burned face made him unrecognizable. The laugh that accompanied his words made him all the more insane looking. He was too far-gone.

"Of course my disgusting sister would be into stuff like that," striking his hand out, orange lightning was released and headed straight towards Airon. The spirit, however, easily dodged and lowered his head as he readied himself to pounce. Suddenly, bright flames engulfed his antlers, his coloured soul-flame licking at the surface. Dai's eyes widened at this, as did Rei's.

It seemed familiar to her somehow.

Airon ran at Dai, but his movements were much faster than ever before. Rei released a breath in shock as Airon's fiery antlers met with Dai's form, successfully throwing himself into the air with flames licking at his body. Dai landed on the other side of the room, this time falling unconscious.

It was over.

"Rei!" Airon immediately turned and ran at her, not sparing Dai a second glance. He bend his neck before Rei, allowing her to tumble onto his head as he gently helped her onto her feet.

"Airon, what was that? Where did that come from? How...?"

"I'll explain everything later, but right now, we need to get out of here," he threw his head back, Rei flying onto his back. She was too exhausted to even lift a finger, instead laying slumped over his back. He began running, turning them intangible in the process and flew straight through the roof.

"But how?"

"Shh. It finally makes sense to me, but I'm afraid, it might take you a bit longer," Airon said, immediately heading back to camp, the two already forgetting about Sokka and Zuko whom they had originally followed there.

"Why?" Rei asked, fatigue seeping into her words.

"Because I know how I feel,"

"About?"

"You," he sounded to certain, so determined and so... strong. Whatever lonesome quest he had been on while Rei was confronted by Dai and the hours spent in that cell, reminiscing in the days their family had been whole, Airon had changed.

Or rather, he was more... assured now.

Of what, Rei did not know.

Rei had fallen asleep by the time Airon returned with her to the Air Temple, Sokka and Zuko not yet returned and the rest still asleep. He headed to the room Rei had been staying in and gently slid her off his back. He stood over her, examining her closely.

Her hair had changed. Instead of the chocolaty colour he used to nuzzle all the time, now a white not far from his own colour but defiantly held a very slight tint of her original hair colour. Whether this sudden change had sparked from Dai's lightning attack that landed near the roots of her hair, her own spiritual energy being ricochet or a mixture of the two, he did not know.

Rei was Rei, brown hair or not.

But now looking down at her, Airon couldn't help but to have wandering thoughts. The last day had certainly been... eventful, to say, even though he had spent it all chained to a wall in a cell. His quest for self-discovery had been an internal struggle, but one very necessary.

His recent thoughts depicting himself in a bad light that couldn't live up to Rei's expectations had certainly effected him, and much worse than he had originally thought. Without having the confidence in his own abilities, nothing seemed to go the way he planned.

Their bond-sense hadn't settled in yet like they originally thought, and neither did their 'newfound' abilities.

They weren't new, they were there all along, lying dormant until the users were strong enough for it to be summoned up.

Soulbenders are much more complex than Airon had originally thought, and he guessed he should've expected it. Nothing about Rei is ever just simple.

But this... bond between Rei and Airon was not just about spiritual compatibility.

Rei and Airon were made for each other.

Back when Airon had just been captured by the Fire Nation guards, all his limbs chained to the wall in some way or the other, he was pretty sure that he should take it as a sign that he was putting Rei in more danger than she needed. He thought himself and unneeded accessory and that with the Avatar, Rei would be much more successful that with him.

After all, he was just a spirit.

"My boy, stop your brooding," an empowering voice sounded, shaking Airon from his self-induced hateful trance. He lifted his head from the ground, peering around the empty cell. Where single threads of wheat had been, now stood a large white spirit stag.

Airon knew immediately that this was not a reflection, for this stag was far from anything he had seen in his own mirror image nor his siblings'. This stag in front of him had three heads.

And he had heard stories of this stag from his mother before he even knew Rei.

"Father?" he muttered, rising onto his hooves.

"Airon, is it?" the middle-head spoke. Airon nodded in confirmation, eyes on the floor as he did not know which head to look at. "Stop with your self-pity. You are a soulbender; you should be more respectful," Airon looked up at him with confusion.

"What? Rei is a soulbender, I'm just her spiritual companion," all three heads huffed at the same moment, shaking their heads in disappointment.

"Do you remember back to when you first met the girl? The undeniable pull you had to her?" the left head spoke, sticking his neck out further than the others'.

"Yeah?" Airon answered, unsure. Of course he remembers the pull! He feels it every day of his life and it drives him crazy.

"Do you think normally spirits would venture out of their domain to see a human girl every day?" the right head smirked, clearly a sly look if Airon had ever seen one. Airon immediately felt himself heating up at his words.

"How did you know that?!" all three heads chuckled, their deep voices booming.

"My boy, it isn't our species' way to stay with our families forever, but I do take an interest in my children. Especially if they have a crush on a human girl," the middle head spoke.

"So you think following me around is justified as good parenting? I don't care if spirits are supposed to go on their own, merely because we're immortal or whatever, but you should've been there! For mother, the others!" Airon felt himself get angry at the mere thought. How dare he, after so long? All three heads sighed simultaneously.

"My boy, we have returned to the herd before. You were not there," Airon, suddenly realising his mistake, took a step back.

"You and that girl are more similar than you realise," the left head spoke before turning his sights away from Airon.

"Who do you think took care of Coral and Blaze after you left?" the left head spoke with a strict haze. The middle head arched his neck in a sort of slapping motion against the left head. "Hey!"

"I am not angry at you, Airon. After I found out that you were a soulbender, I knew you would have to leave eventually. It's your destiny," the middle head took lead. Airon could only stare at him in a sort of bewildered fascination.

"I'm a spirit. Spirits can't bend," Airon spoke softly.

"And who ever told you that? Hm?" one of the heads snapped. "Your brother, Blaze, is a firebender. Your sister, Coral, is a waterbender. And you, my boy, are a soulbender,"

"Stop doubting me," another head spoke.

"But how is that possible? How can a spirit, which is basically a soul, soulbend?" at this, his father fully sighed.

"Soulbending is a lot more complex than you realise, Airon. Unlike the other affinities, soulbending cannot be done effectively on one's lonesome. Soulbending is done with partners," the middle head started to explain.

"How... how is that possible?" Airon sunk onto his knees, scrolling through his memory for any indication that he had ever soulbended.

"Soulbending is an incredible art, and one not easily mastered nor even existing in one generation or the other. The reason behind its rarity is because of its nature to come in pairs, so anyone can have the potential for soulbending, but if there isn't another on the planet at that time that is spiritually compatible, then there is no soulbender. The pairs come always in the form of one human and one spirit, and for important reason so," he headed forward and folded his knees in beneath him, sitting in front of Airon.

"Soulbending is done by the human harnessing the spirit's soul energy during training, adapting their own soul to be able to perform spiritual acts. That's why you girl's soul flame has a gentle purple to it: that's your spiritual energy that mixed with her own. As time goes on, this spiritual bond grows stronger, which is why your girl is starting to turn into a spirit," Airon's eyes were wide at this, the information seeping in and settling.

"The only reason your spiritual energy is able to adapt to her soul, is because of your spiritual compatibility. It's also what causes the bond between you, which later develops into a bond-sense. The bond-sense is basically that instead of energy passing between you two when you touch, it can be done over a distance. That's why the Lion Turtle was required: they are the only creatures strong enough to heighten the bond to expel any distance required.

But just like your spiritual energy adapts to hers, her soul is also adapting to yours. That's why you're turning human," Airon's eyes shot open, wide. He looked up at his father, his jaw slack.

"Human?! I'm becoming human?!" his father nodded all his heads.

"Indeed, but you and the girl will not be taking each other's places," he sighed heavily. "The soul is very strong, my boy, so strong that it can change your very biology. The soul, however, will forever stay true to the person it was born into. You cannot change it entirely, which is why a balance will eventually settle within both you and the girl. Not fully human, but not fully spirit either. You two will be the same, in complete equilibrium; and when that happens, with the ultimate harmony between you two, only then will you both be Master Soulbenders," Airon seeped in the words, trying to understand and comprehend it all. He had so many questions but couldn't word them.

"But then... if I lose some of my spiritual powers in order to become... human, then won't I just be in the way? I'm becoming weaker," his father huffed in annoyance at this.

"What is this excuse you are spouting here? You have not lost any powers, and you won't either. Because of the harmony settling in between you two, you will share each other's powers. You will gain the Soulbending she has achieved thus far and she will gain your spiritual powers. Yes, you are becoming human and with that comes more weaknesses, but in no way have you lost any part of yourself," Airon sunk his head, thinking back to how everything strained him before. Weight, heat...

"How do I become stronger then?" at this, his father's heads smirked.

"That gem on your forehead is a conductor for your powers. It assists in channelling each other's powers but one day, when you are both Master Soulbenders, it will no longer be needed. Do not hide the gem. By hiding it, you are putting a dent in both of your progress. You have grown, Airon, but you haven't witnessed it yet because you are supressing it," his father stopped suddenly before smiling. "The truth of the world will become clear when you two become Master Soulbenders, trust me. But for now: don't lose each other," he stood up fast, turning to make his exit.

"Father wait!" he turned his heads to Airon, who was now standing on his hooves. "How do you know so much about Soulbending?"

"The same way Master Bernings does: we were Soulbenders once before as well," Airon stopped in his tracks, staring at his father with wide, doe eyes.

"But then.... How?!"

"Master Bernings' human partner died shortly after they received their gems, and because there was no human input, he was returned all his spiritual powers and lost the few he had gotten from his partner. With no use for the gems, he kept them in order to pass it on to the next generation of Soulbenders he came across," the middle head indicated towards Airon before growing serious. "I, however, after having learned the truth of the power Soulbenders held all those millenniums ago, had decided to take all the power for myself. I thought that there was no need to share with my human partner, and removed the gem straight from his forehead whilst our energy still pulsed through them," he bend all his heads down and shook them. "The energy released from the extraction had damaged him greatly, and he died from his wounds not long after. At that time, I had not cared for him and attempted to merge my own gem and his together, hoping to grant myself the soulbending powers that was held within his gem. Instead, I was cursed.

I used to look like you, Airon. I used to have only one head,"

Airon took a step back, fear and confusion etched into his emotions.

"I had millennia to think over my mistake, two extra voices to nag at me from left and right. Airon, don't make the same mistake I did. And don't, loose her," his father disappeared in a ball of light, leaving Airon to his own thoughts.

His own father, a destructive, cursed ex-soulbender?

Did his mother know about this?

He manifested his gem onto his forehead and closed his eyes, focusing intently on the power being channelled through it and only that. He let that power be released, folding around him as months of suppressing the changes overwhelmed him to the extent of unconsciousness. When he awoke, there was only one clear goal on his mind: find Rei.

*So for some character sketch ideas/ whatever if you wondered (seriously my younger self went into this story blind, I had to guess what I meant)

Rei (As a Fire Nation chicky-ish; just a concept since she was much younger when she was)

Rei (Chapter 1 - Chapter 16, meaning it will change now ooh foreshadowing)

Airon (Pre-should've trusted that gem sooner)

Airon (Post- yesss unleash the gem power baby!)

Stag Daddy

Dai, Aron and Nayla still in progress ~