Hey guys, I know it's been a long time since I updated and I'm terribly sorry. To make a long story short, I lost one of my parents a couple years back and have been struggling to find the time and motivation to write. Since I haven't worked with this story in a while, I decided to keep the story cohesive and start over from the beginning, not only to make the story make more sense but also to make the style flow more evenly. I hope everyone gives the story the same love as they were before, and as always I'm open for suggestions and critiques. Thank you everyone for giving my story another chance!

"Sokka hurry up!" Katara was sitting impatiently in the canoe waiting for her older brother to finally catch a fish. They'd been trying all morning and had nothing to show for it. She knew the sun would be setting in a couple hours and they didn't really have time for Sokka to get frustrated with every fish being too small for him and waiting for 'the right one'.

"For the thousandth time, hunting takes time!" He said almost frantically. "I don't expect a girl to understand." Sokka flexed his arm again, mainly just to stare at it in the reflection of the water, and got his spear ready.

Katara huffed and crossed her arms. Sokka had a tendency to say the absolute worst things, especially when it came to her being a girl or weak or playing with 'magic water'.

"I'm so tired of you acting like you're so superior because you're a boy," Katara stood up and threw her arms in exasperation, sending a gush of water streaming behind her. "I have never met someone so ignorant and arrogant."

The canoe rocked again with another thrash of Katara's arms. Sokka rolled his eyes, "Oh, you must meet so many people in this huge tribe, huh, Katara. I'd like to see you deal with people who aren't your family. You probably wouldn't be so tough then. No one likes to be nagged, especially a man trying to hunt and provide for the tribe!"

"You're a pig and have no consideration for anyone else!" Sure siblings get in arguments, and normally pretty frequently, but Katara was absolutely fed up with his attitude. "I'm tired of you acting like you do so much around here when all you do is go off and play hunter or soldier and leave the rest of us with the real work!" Katara grunted and stomped her foot just in time for Sokka to finally glance back and notice the huge surge of water Katara had sent behind her barreling toward a large collection of ice.

"Ah, Katara I think you should.." he started timidly.

"If you tell me to calm done I swear to God Sokka..." But Katara couldn't even finish her sentence before a huge blast of air and water sent their canoe spinning into a sturdy chunk of ice, throwing them both onto it's hard surface. The canoe break almost neatly in half as it met with the side of the iceberg.

Before either of them could get up to inspect just what had happened, or even argued about who caused it, a jet of light blinded them both and streamed toward the sky above. They both sat in awe, it was like nothing they'd ever seen before. The air around them suddenly felt warmer, and the iceberg before them was breaking off large pieces and revealed a swirl of ice and snow, almost a perfect circle.

"What the hell could that be," Sokka finally got his legs to work and stood up, spear at the ready.

"I don't know," Katara whispered. She was entranced. "I've never seen anything like it, it looks like it was carved, or made by someone."

They both moved closer to inspect it. "Stay behind me, we don't know what this thing is," Sokka motioned to the chuck of ice, "It could be a Fire Nation trap." Katara couldn't find her voice to argue with his reasoning. But she ran her hand across the smooth surface, just to see if her eyes were tricking her.

"Wow, it sure is cold down here."

Sokka and Katara both immediately jumped back and he let out the most manly squeak possible. There was someone climbing out of the ice! His yellow robes and staff definitely were out of place, neither of them have seen anything like it. "Stop right there! Who are you, and what were you doing in that ice? How are you even alive?" Sokka asked and with every question pointed his spear right at the person climbing down.

"Hey I come in peace!" He held up his hands as soon as his feet hit the icy ground. "You can put the spear down, I promise I'm not here to harm either of you. I was traveling to the South Pole before a huge storm took me and my bison down."

"How do we know you're not a spy?" Sokka jabbed his spear towards the stranger again, clearly not believing a word he said. Katara put her arm on Sokka's shoulder to try and calm him.

"Look I'm an airbender from the Southern Temple. I've been island hopping since I escaped my temple's destruction. I'm not a spy, I'm not a soldier, or anything else like that. My name is Aang, I'm sixteen, and my bison, his name is Appa. We're not here to harm you or your village. We're looking for safety too." Katara watched the stranger closely. He seemed sincere. And the blue arrow tattoo ascending down his forehead definitely looked real.

"Can I just have a word with my brother for one second?" Katara grabbed Sokka by the arm and pulled him to the far side of the ice berg. The stranger, Aang, nodded and pretended to not listen. "He seems sincere, Sokka. And he was trapped in that ice, I think he's telling the truth. And we have no other way back to the village. We need each other to get back. If he really has a bison, it'll be our only way back. We either trust him, or freeze out here. No one in the village will find us this far out."

Sokka huffed and brushed his sister's hand off his arm. "I don't like it but since we don't have any other plan I guess we have to bring him with us. But I'm not letting my guard down. You might be okay with trusting strangers but this is war time and we can't just go trusting everyone we see."

Katara rolled her eyes. She knew reasoning with Sokka was nearly impossible and this was the closest to an agreement that she would get. She turned around to face Aang, and saw him leading a giant, furry bison out of the ice. "The grumpy one is my brother Sokka and my name's Katara." They exchanged slight smiles. "Wow, he's beautiful. You said his name was Appa?"

A smile lit up Aang's face and Katara couldn't help but blush. He was obviously a very lively and charming person. "Yeah he's my flying bison. And my best friend. We've been through a lot together and he doesn't leave my side."

Sokka snorted and was mumbling something about flying bison under his breath. "I've never seen anything like him. He's amazing. Can I pet him?" Katara asked timidly.

"Of course! He's going to fly us out of here!" Aang said excitedly, "Think of him as your friend too. You can pet him and talk to him all you want. He's a great listener too." Appa grunted in what she assumed was agreement.

Katara took a few small steps forward and reached her hand out to rest on his soft fur. Appa hummed as she ran her fingers over his ear. "Can we stop talking about the bison and get home. The sun will be setting soon and I don't feel like freezing to death out here today," Sokka interjected.

"He has a point," Aang agreed, "just climb up Appa's tail and make yourselves comfy in the saddle. We'll be out of here in no time, if you guys can just give me directions."

Katara pulled Sokka by the sleeve and made him climb up onto Appa alongside her. They watched as Aang jumped a clear seven feet onto Appa's head and grabbed the reins. Sokka's eyes almost popped out of his head. Neither of them had heard of any airbenders since the great war started and the Fire Nation wiped them out. "Everyone hold on! Yip Yip Appa!"

Appa grunted and after a few seconds, they lifted into the air. "Oh my god we're really flying!" Sokka couldn't believe his eyes. Maybe the kid was actually who he said he was...

Katara's voice broke his stupor, "Just head west and we'll eventually come across the village. It's kind of small so keep an eye out, it's easy to miss."

` "Thanks for the advice!" Aang's voice was so chipper. Katara couldn't help but wonder if he had any other mood aside from cheery. "I've never been to the South Pole before. I visited a few islands and ports in the Earth Kingdom but it was nothing like this. It's so serene out here. It must be so peaceful."

"It's actually pretty boring most of the time. We were just out fishing today, and aside from doing chores and keeping up with the kids around the village, there isn't much else to do. Ever since the men left for war, it's been different around the village." Katara scooted closer to the edge so she could talk to Aang more comfortably. "You know we've never seen an airbender before. Or a flying bison. How did you escape from the Fire Nation? I've heard horrible stories about what they did to the temples.."

"My mentor, Monk Gyatso, helped me and Appa escape and distracted the soldiers the best he could. He said it was important we both made it to safety and stayed in hiding until I was ready." Katara could hear the sadness in his voice. It almost made her regret asking something so personal. "But that's in the past. What's important now is stopping them before they harm anyone else the same way. I might be able to stay here for a while but I'll have to leave for the Northern tribe as soon as it's safe. I need to learn more bending and try to talk to a general if I can. I have information I need to pass on. You wouldn't be able to contact someone from the tribe here would you?"

Katara shook her head sadly, "We haven't been in contact with our sister tribe in some time. Cultural differences and times of war really change things. My dad was even paranoid about contacting them since many messages could easily be intercepted."

Aang nodded and sat in silence for a moment, "I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it. For now we just need to make it back safely and I need to start planning. It's not going to be easy making it to the other side of the world without being noticed."

Before Katara could even answer, Sokka spoke up for the first time in a while, clearly unhappy about the circumstances, "Our village is up here on the right, if you fly down slowly you should be able to land right outside the gates."

Aang steered Appa down onto the icy ground. He hadn't been this apprehensive in a while, but he knew the next few hours were going to be really important, and gaining trust here would help immensely when the time came to rally allies. "I can't wait to meet everyone!" Aang tried to sound as excited as possible. But the truth was everything had been so uncertain and draining lately and the idea of making at least one friend today made the possibility of failure and loneliness ease from his mind. An air of sadness had followed him from the air temple to every island. But now maybe it was time for it clear up and find happiness again.