Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

My mother used to tell me stories about the old days. About how the world used to be divided into four nations; and how each nation had had great warriors who defended them… warriors able to bend the elements themselves to their will. The greatest bender of all was the Avatar, master of all four elements, responsible for maintaining the delicate balance between the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Then, three hundred years ago, everything changed. A great and terrible war ignited between those who could bend, and those who could not. At the war's end, the benders, and the Avatar, were all but exterminated. Some say that when the benders died out, the bending arts were lost forever. But I believe that the benders are still alive, and that one day, their time will come again.

Future Imperfect

(Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Chapter I: Rebirth

A boy walked cautiously among rows of corn. At each stalk, he examined the ear- if he found it satisfactory, he cut the ear from the stalk and dropped it in his basket; if not, he left the ear on the stalk and continued to the next stalk. The sun was high overhead, but the boy was almost already at the end of the cornfield. He looked down at his basket; save for a few ears of corn, it was nearly empty. The boy was slightly disappointed, but wasn't surprised; it would be a few more weeks before the majority of the crops ripened. The boy reached the end of the field without finding any other ears of corn. Disappointed again, he turned and walked toward his house with his meager supply. He stepped inside, and dropped his basket on the table. A woman busy tending to a fire looked over her shoulder and asked, "Any luck out there Jin?" Jin sat down on the floor and replied, "Sorry Mom, but the corn isn't going to be ready for a few more weeks." There was a short pause, then Jin asked, "Mom, can you tell me that one story? About how everything used to be?"

"You've heard that story a hundred times already. But, one more wouldn't hurt, I suppose." She turned away from the fire. "Long ago, the world was divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Living in each nation were warriors called benders, who could control one of the four elements. The most powerful bender of all was called the Avatar, and was the master of all four elements. His job was to maintain the balance between the four nations. But the benders began to abuse their power, and one day, a war broke out between the benders and ordinary people. Both sides were sure that the benders would win. But the impossible happened- the benders lost. The Avatar vanished during the war, and was never heard from again. Many believe that all benders were hunted down and exterminated after the war, but some people say that a few benders were able to escape, and now their descendants live among ordinary people, keeping the practice of bending alive in secret." Jin laid back and said, "No matter how many times I hear that story, I still enjoy it." He sat back up. "Is there anything else I have to do?" His mother replied, "No, I think that's all." Jin stood up and said, "Okay. I'm going to my room then." As he walked to his room, his mother called to him, "Dinner will be ready in an hour." He entered his room and closed the door behind him.

Jin crossed the room and flopped down on his bed. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the way things were three hundred years ago. It must have been incredible: creating fire with a snap of one's fingers, flying, building an entire city, literally from the ground up- things people would call miracles in his time, little more than daily occurrences then. Jin couldn't imagine why anyone would want to exterminate the benders. To him it seemed that their presence was more beneficial than anything. But for whatever reason, the benders were gone now, and even if some continued to survive in hiding, it would be some time before they could re-emerge. Three hundred years had done little to soften the prejudice directed at benders; any documents that referred to them portrayed them as ruthless slavers and tyrants interested only in controlling the world. But Jin knew that those were lies.

"Not everything that you've heard was a lie," Jin heard someone say. He quickly sat up and looked around; his room was empty. Then, there was a strong gust of wind, blowing up a cloud of dust; the cloud was quickly blown away, revealing a man in its place. He was fairly young, in his twenties at the latest. He was completely bald, but on his head was a tattoo of an arrow; he also wore unusual robes in orange and yellow. Jin stared in shock; from what he heard in the stories, he was looking at a genuine Air Nomad. "Once, the benders were a noble and proud people, but then they grew arrogant, and in their pride, they couldn't see the suffering they caused. The Avatar was weak, unable to keep balance between them, and so, the benders were wiped out." Jin asked, "Who are you?" The man replied, "My name is Aang. I was the Avatar many hundreds of years ago, and your predecessor."

"What? What do you mean 'my predecessor'?"

"That means is that I was you in a past life. You are the newest Avatar."

"But that's impossible! The Avatar disappeared in the war three hundred years ago!"

Aang began to pace the room. "The Avatar is a spiritual being. When he dies, his spirit is reincarnated into the next nation of the Avatar cycle."

"Wait. I've heard about you. You were alive before the war. But why did you show up instead of the Avatar before me?"

"That's because they didn't know they were the Avatar. They weren't ready to know, so I never revealed myself to them. But I feel that I can trust you, and now I don't have a choice. There is a great evil coming. Right now, as we speak, there are people trying to unlock the power of the ancient bending disciplines, and use that power to enslave the world, just as the benders tried to three hundred years ago. You have to stop them."

"How?"

"You have to find the remaining benders, master the four elements, and stop them before they begin their attack."

"But how am I supposed to find the benders?"

"They're all around you. You just have to know where to look."

"How long do I have until they attack?"

"They won't show themselves until they're at their strongest. My guess is that they'll begin the attack on New Year's Day. You have to master all the elements before then."

"New Year's Day? That's six months away."

"You'll need that time to learn the bending styles. If you're going to have a chance to stop them, then you need to master all four before New Year's."

"Who's 'them?'"

"They… are the descendants of the generals who led the war against the benders. After the war's end, they devoted the remainder of their lives to finding the secrets of bending, to create more effective, deadlier soldiers. As generations passed, their goal eventually degenerated into creating an army with which they can take over the world. Now they've almost found the secret, and unless you stop them, they will undoubtedly succeed."

Jin sat in silence for a short time. "You have the wrong person. There's no way I'm the Avatar." Aang sat down next to him and replied, "Well, you are. The fact that you can see me proves it." Jin pulled his legs against his chest. "But I don't feel any different. I thought that when things like this happened, you were supposed to feel… different somehow."

"I know. I didn't feel any different when I found out I was the Avatar either. But everyone I knew started treating me differently. I was under so much of pressure all the time, I didn't think I could handle it." Jin turned to him and said, "But that was different. People actually looked up to you. They depended on you- the world depended on you. But not any more. The world hates benders now. And they'd hate me too." Aang replied, "Are we really any different? You might not know this, but I was frozen in a block of ice for a hundred years, right before the Fire Nation began a devastating war. People knew only I could stop them, but when I didn't show up, they started losing faith in the Avatar. Some even started to hate me. But I still did what I had to in order to defeat the Fire Lord, no matter what anybody thought of me."

"But you still had something I don't: a clearly defined enemy. The truth is, with the way the world is now, the entire world is my enemy. And if anybody found out about me, they'd have me executed… or worse."

"It was the same way in my time- there were plenty that would've liked to see the end of the Avatar. And there's something else we have in common: we're the last hope for the world. When I was the Avatar, I was the last hope because I was the only airbender until after the war. For you, if you're killed, by the time the next Avatar is old enough to fight, it would be too late to stop the soldiers." Aang sighed. "I know it seems like everything's against you, but you're the Avatar. You're the only person who can do this." Jin then asked, "What do I have to do first?"

"First we have to figure out your native element. You're the sixth Avatar after me, and I'm an airbender, so…" Aang counted up on his fingers. "Water, earth, fire, air, water… earth. You'll have to start by finding an earthbending teacher." Jin stood up and said, "Well that's awfully convenient. We're in what used to be the Earth Kingdom, so there might be some pockets of earthbenders somewhere." Aang stood up as well and said, "Then we should get going." Jin looked over at Aang and said, "Not yet. I have something I have to take care of first." He stood up and left his room. His mother was still preparing dinner. She saw him and said, "Dinner isn't going to be ready for a few more minutes, Jin." He walked over to a table in the center of the room, sat at a chair in front of it, and said, "Mom, there's something I need to talk to you about." She sat down in front of him and asked, "What is it, Jin?" He looked down and replied, "I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I don't know how you'll take this, but… I want to leave the farm. I know you'll try to talk me into staying, but there's an entire world out there. My destiny's out there somewhere, beyond this farm, but if I stay here I'll never be able to find it. So… I want to go, and find my destiny out there." Jin's mother took his hand, and said, "Jin, you're young, and I know children your age dream of seeing the world. And… and we thought something like this would happen eventually. I know there isn't much for you here, and I knew you'd want to see the world, so I decided if you ever asked for this… I'd… I'd let you go." Jin asked, "Really?"

"Of course. Just give me some time to get everything ready for you."

"Thanks Mom."