Sitting Around, Talking About Doing Stuff [OPEN]

[governmentninja]

And this was the part of the job that Leon knew would eventually grate on him. Meetings. They were necessary, and usually productive, but they were not his thing. Still, it was part of the job now, so as per his post on the comms, he made himself available at the Precinct. His old office belonged to Samus now, so for the time being he made himself comfortable in the fifth floor conference room.

Comments

[governmentninja]

"Yeah, I think everyone knows we're very out of balance." That was probably the easiest observation about this crew to make.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"I wanted to let you know I'm going to try to help with that. Running talks, mediating conflicts--that's pretty much what I'm supposed to do, only the crew is a on much smaller scale than what I usually do it for."

Which is, you know, like, countries.

"They'll find their way eventually."

Keen gray eyes looked up at Leon.

"The part I'm wondering still, is if you will, and it isn't because of a lack of faith. It's more that I want to know if you genuinely understand the kinds of choices you're going to have to make in the times ahead."

[governmentninja]

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here," he answered. He may not have had much experience leading an army, but he did have plenty of experience leading people through a desperate situation. It may have sounded arrogant, but it wasn't meant that way. He genuinely would not have put himself in this position if he didn't think he could he could make the hard choices; the right choices.

"And if it turns out that I don't, then I shouldn't be here." And he'd step aside without hesitation.

"At the end of the day, though, all I can do is make the best choices I can, and do all I can to keep this crew alive and keep them together."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Aang smiled lightly, and with fondness in his gaze. It was a good answer, and it didn't surprise him. Considering the first time Aang had met this man he'd promised the crew would save him, he already thought very highly of him.

"I don't doubt that you plan to make the best choices you can, and I know you'll try to take care of this crew as best as you can. But what I'm asking is if you're ready to make choices bigger than this crew. With the path we're on, your choices may affect whether whole worlds or whole galaxies live or die. With an enemy like this, that threatens all life, that means you may be making choices on the grandest scale possible--a scale even beyond what I'm used to, and I have the wisdom of a thousand lifetimes to guide me."

Aang went on, "To do that, to carry that weight, to help bring balance back to the Omniverse and not lose your way, you'll have to maintain balance within yourself. And what I'm asking is, can you hold the fates of millions in your hands, and not make the right choice, but make a choice--and deal with whatever consequences there are, even if they're horrible? I want to know if you can do all that and still be Leon Kennedy."

[governmentninja]

"I have made those kinds of decisions, some of which have had horrible consequences." Like surrendering the Master Plaga to Ada so he could save Ashley, only to have said parasite end up ravaging several villages in Africa, costing thousands of innocent lives.

"Not on this large of a scale, however," he admitted, "But I've never been one to try my hand at playing God. The day I start doing that, believing that I have the right to decide who lives and who dies, that's the day I stop being me, and that's the day I'm no longer fit to lead this crew.

"But Even if I don't always make the right choice, as long as I make the best choice that I can, then whatever the outcome, I can live with myself."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Aang's smile widens.

"Well, I think you're ready."

He paused, and looked to the right at something only he could see.

"Buuuut my past lives still don't. Usually they only give me advice, but this is very important, so they want to talk to you. At least the last four do. They want to give you advice to start your captainhood with."

[governmentninja]

That sounded.... weird. But, so was everything else on this ship. He learned to roll with weird.

"Okay," he said, sounded a little unsure. Because even if he was rolling with it, it was still weird. "But, uh... how does this work?"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"Well, usually, they just tend to pop in and--"

A strange wind suddenly rushed around Aang from nowhere, obscuring him from view, and when it stopped, there appeared there an old man, white-bearded and stern, wearing red robes, sitting in the spot where Aang had been sitting.

"I am Roku, one of the past incarnations of the Avatar. We, the last four Avatars past each offer a piece of advice to you as gifts, young man. For the road that lies ahead of you will be difficult, and the stakes are perilously high. Do you accept these gifts?"

[governmentninja]

Leon sat back in his chair, one of the few visible signs of surprise. That was... a new level of weird.

But, he said he'd hear them out.

"Um... sure."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"When I was young, my best friend in all the world was named Sozen. He was next in line to become Firelord, leader of one of the great nations of our world. As he grew up, he grew more and more power-hungry and corrupt. We had several altercations, but ultimately, I left Sozen alone, until my eventual death, which he allowed to happen during a volcanic eruption," Roku explained.

"It was Sozen that later led his Nation to conquer much of our world, and it was Sozen that led the Fire Nation to kill all of Aang's people, the Airbenders. I was blinded by loyalty and fondness towards my old friend, and didn't take action when I should have--my greatest mistake."

There was great sorrow in his voice as he told this story, the sorrow of a lifetime.

"Even if you try not to trust, there are still those you will come to trust and those you are fond of. Some will make mistakes--and some may knowingly cause terrible things to happen. You understand this, but it's easier in thought than practice to do what must be done."

He nodded towards Leon, acknowledging that he knew he wasn't naive. But loyalty? Blind loyalty was a trap even the wisest and most cynical could find themselves falling into.

"My advice to you is this: Do not let old loyalties blind you."

And then the wind came again to swirl around him.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

When it disappeared, a woman sat there, all in greens, wearing face paint and a head-dress. Her expression, if at all possible, was even more stern.

"I am Avatar Kyoshi. Listen to my story and you may find wisdom in my mistakes," she said.

"When I was Avatar, there was a revolt against the king in the nation known as the Earth Kingdom, in its capital city, Ba Sing Se. In order to get the needs and wants of the peasants listened to by the Earth King, I agreed to help the king protect the city's cultural heritage. To this end, I trained a group of guards called the Dai Li, in elite forms of Earthbending, so that they could act as the king's personal guards, and prevent the destruction of the city. Throughout the years, they grew corrupt, and were eventually used to interrogate and imprison political dissidents."

She closed her eyes.

"What I created was meant to be a force for good, and became corrupted in ways that I should have foreseen."

Looking up at him again, Kyoshi said, "My advice to you is this: Be wary of how time can undo intent--what you do in the name of security now can later be twisted in ways you never dreamed were possible."

The wind blew again.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

This time, when the wind stopped, there was a man in blue and white, wearing some kind of animal skin as a head-dress.

"I'm Avatar Kuruk. I'm going to keep this a little shorter than the others, mainly because if I were to lay out my mistakes before you, we'd be here all day," he said with a raise of his eyebrows.

"My greatest mistake was inaction when I should have jumped at my responsibilities. Sometimes this took the form of taking care of a problem, but leaving part of it behind, hoping that would be enough. It wasn't. If you're going to do the job, then do all of it."

He nodded at Leon.

"My advice to you is this: Finish what you start, even if sometimes it seems as if something you've left behind you will never trouble you again. It'll always catch up to you in the end."

And again came the wind.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

When it dissipated, there was a woman there, one that didn't look very different from Aang. She wore saffron robes, and her head was shaved to a point, so that an arrow tattoo was visible. The rest of her long hair cascaded behind her.

Of all of the Avatars, she seemed the calmest, the most at peace. Where Roku was somewhat intense, Kyoshi was stony, and Kuruk was bubble and self-effacing, she seemed the most at peace.

"I am Avatar Yangchen. I, like the others, have made many mistakes, but instead of using one as a lesson, I will use instead how I grew from my own. You've said that there are things that if they were to occur, that day is the day you would walk away from your responsibilities, and hope that someone better could take your place. But that you would walk away when unfit, means there are few that would be better. The Avatar could not walk away from their responsibilities back home, and Aang cannot walk away from his responsibilities now. You can, but if one of those days ever comes, it does not necessarily mean that you should. Not when so many will be looking to you to guide them."

She was at peace, yet somehow more stern than the rest.

"My advice to you is this: Do not give up on yourself so willingly. If you find yourself bending and changing in the face of all the change and heavy choices around you, there is no reason that you cannot change back."

The wind came again.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

The wind kept blowing, swirling around, and eventually dissipated, and Aang was left there, spinning around in his swivel chair and looking dazed.

"I think that was the wordiest I've ever been."

[governmentninja]

Okay... Leon was going to take a moment to absorb all of that.

"That was... enlightening." And despite that he was still trying to wrap his head around what just happened, he meant that.

"How many generations of Avatars are... with you?"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"A...lot."

Aang rubbed his bald head thoughtfully.

"It gets fuzzier the earlier back they go. Over a thousand lifetimes, at least. They only talk to me when they know I need guidance, though, and I can talk to them and call them up whenever I need it. This is only the second time they've talked to someone else and the first time it was Kyoshi clearing up something that happened in her time to a bunch of angry villagers that wanted to boil me in oil."