Rise of the Avatar

Summary: AU of The Last Airbender. How I envision the show if it hadn't been rated TV-Y7.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Opening Notes: HBO presents Avatar: The Last Airbender, or something like that. All the characters are older and the war is a lot uglier than in the original version. Obviously inspired by the show, but I'm giving my own take on the story.

Book 1: The Return

Chapter 1: Awakening

Long ago the world was at peace, and the four nations lived in everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, had a chance of stopping this Armageddon. But he vanished, leaving millions to die. Now the world lives in fear, each person waiting for their time to come, and all we can do is hold onto hope. If we have that much...

Katara

"Damn it Sokka! How long does it take to catch a fish?"

They had been sitting out there since daybreak, and judging from the angle of the sun it was closing in on noon. 6 hours in a small canoe. Doing nothing.

This is enough to drive anyone crazy! How incompetent is he? Katara thought, but said nothing. As much as she hated waiting for Sokka to do whatever it was he did, she hated the idea of having sea prunes for the third day in a row even more.

"I told you! It takes time and patience to fish..." he shot back.

"...Not that a girl would know." he added smugly.

Giving him her most disapproving glare, she turned back to the water. Reaching out with her mind she felt the millions of drops of water that made up the bay they were floating in, and with a quick glance back toward her brother pulled the water sharply, moving the canoe backwards and Sokka halfway into the water.

Sokka

Pulling his now soaking wolf-tail over his head, Sokka slowly turned towards his sister.

"I hope you're happy now," he breathed, filled with anger, "because I had the biggest damn fish I'd ever seen. And now its gone, thanks to your stupid magic water."

That got the reaction he was looking for, stopping her laughing fit as she sat up.

"It is not magic, it's an ancient and sacred way of life that's been passed down in our tribe for generations! You need to respect it!"

Sokka rolled his eyes, "So because of your sacred stupid magic water we're having sea prunes again, I'm soaking wet, and we've drifted into the bay. I don't suppose you and the thousands of generations of waterbenders could magic us up a way to get home, could you? Oh, no? That's right, I'm paddling us home. Now shut your mouth and let me work, woman."

He faced the bow, ready to bring them home and let Katara feel the wrath of the hungry, sea prune filled village when it hit him.

I have absolutely no idea where we are.

"You what?! How far could we have drifted?! Are you that bad at navigating? I can't believe you!"

"Listen," Sokka snapped, "if it hadn't been for you then we wouldn't be out here in the first place! You and your waterbending have always caused more trouble than good! Just on this trip your little magic trick has cost us food and gotten us lost in the GODDAMN OCEAN! It's never been any help, especially during raids, when we all have to go out of our way to protect you! If bet that if it weren't for you and all the fucking benders in the world, Mom would still be here!"

The last part had slipped out. He knew Katara would do anything to have their Mom back, even give up her bending. He quickly backtracked.

"Katara, I... that came out wrong... I just meant that-"

"-shut the fuck up." She clenched her fists at her sides, tears running down her face as the waves around them grew larger.

"Katara, I would never-"

"I said SHUT UP!" She slammed her hands down.

The bay swelled upward, lifting the canoe high into the air.

"Katara!" Sokka yelled. "Calm down!"

And then she was lucid again, releasing her hold on the water and sitting down in the canoe, tears once again flowing from her face.

Unfortunately, that left the canoe nowhere to go but down.

Shit.

Picking himself out of the water, Sokka quickly surveyed the situation. The canoe in pieces, it was dark except for some light in the distance, he was wet, and his sister had her back to him.

"I think we're in a cave." he offered, drawing a pointed glare from Katara.

"How did you figure that one out, 'oh great detective?'"

Ignoring his sister's snarky comment, he began to analyze the crash.

"We must have fallen from about 15 feet, which along with the waterfall you made probably brought us underwater. The canoe got smashed on impact and the current carried us away. We're lucky we got washed into this air pocket or we would have drowned. And now we're here."

But where's here?

It was a good question, but irrelevant in the circumstances.

"We should probably head towards that light, it's our best chance at a way out." he said, tired of fighting with her.

Katara, still angry at him for the comment about their mother, turned towards the light and started walking.

"Look Katara, I'm really sorry for what I said earlier." he started

"There's nothing you can say that will change it, so just shut your mouth and walk, man."

Giving up, Sokka focused on the task ahead. He wasn't any stranger to walking long distances, having the role of feeding the village dumped on him when the men left for the war. It was a daunting task, searching for miles on end for something, anything to bring home to the village. A seal-turtle, an arctic hen, caribou-wolf; anything to help feed the village. He usually found something in the wilderness, but he shuddered thinking of the nights filled with hungry faces of the kids who needed him, the kids he'd failed. With the constant threat of the black snow, the animals had moved on, and those nights were less and less a rarity and more the norm.

Something had gone wrong. Something happened during the war that had far reaching effects, even farther than the fire nation could touch with all their armies. Something had been broken, and the world was paying the price.

What if someday there's nothing left to bring back?

Deep in thought, Sokka didn't realize Katara had stopped until he bumped into her.

"What the hell- oh my..."

They were looking out over a massive cave, big enough to hold three villages with room to spare. Above them swum huge schools of fish, darting in and out of sight through the ice, shadows flickering across the floor, but something else caught the Katara's attention.

At the end of the cavern, was a glowing orb of ice.

Inside were the silhouettes of a person and a large animal.

Stunned, Sokka took out his machete, picking at the grip nervously.

Katara had no such qualms, and leapt into action.

"We have to help him!" She said, grabbing Sokka's seal-turtle club and sliding down the ice towards the glowing figure.

"Wait! Katara! This might not be a good idea!" he shouted, chasing after her.

Before long she had reached the ice orb and was bashing it like the damn Avatar was inside.

ping! ping! ping!

Containing his anxiety, Sokka looked up at the young man inside the orb. He was seated in the lotus position with his eyes closed, what seemed to be a large mammal behind him.

ping! ping! ping!

"Are you sure we should do this?" he asked, nervously eyeing the large beast.

ping! ping! ping!

"Of course, what could go wrong?" she said, and swung with all her strength.

CRUNCH!

"That." he said, watching incredulously as a series of cracks made their way throughout the cave. It took a falling piece of ice the size of a tent for the situation to click.

The cave was collapsing.

Aang

ping! ping! CRUNCH!

He heard it.

He had awoken.

He knew it was time.

Katara

The cave was still collapsing, but Katara wasn't paying attention.

His eyes had opened, pouring light into the room.

She came face to face with him, looking into the pure white light, the boy in the iceberg.

He blinked.

And all hell broke loose.

A/N:Thus concludes chapter one, the start of a long journey. More on the way soon.