Sue me for doing this, I suppose. Yes, most of the characters from the series will be absent. I'll try to reference them somewhat, at least. And I do promise that Aang will appear. But that's not for a while. First, foreshadowing! Enjoy.

Chapter One

The waves were finally calming as the small fishing boat inched its way back home through the dissipating storm, though the captain knew another, more dangerous one was on its way. But storms came with the territory, and they were nothing new to his seasoned crew.

By lantern light he peered out through the inky blackness, trying to make out the look of the clouds against the dark sky. His gaze drifted down to the undulating waves, and it was there that his attention was caught by a circling bird.

While there were birds on the sea, it was unusual for them to be out so late at night or after so violent a storm, and this did not look like any sea bird he knew. He squinted his old, tired eyes, trying to see clearer, and with a shock he made out the form of a body floating on the water.

With a yell to those on deck duty, he had the ship wheeled around and brought nearer. The figure looked to be a woman, no older than his niece– eighteen or nineteen at the most. By some miracle she hadn't been pulled under the surface by the weight of her soaked-through clothes, instead floating along until some rescue came. The bird that circled above her let out a squawk, and glided down to land tiredly on the rail of the deck.

The girl was pulled aboard, where it was determined– to the captain's relief– that she was still alive, and still breathing. Her dark hair was splayed messily around her head like a crown, and in better light the captain would be able to tell what the make of her clothes were, in hopes of determining where she was from.

"Wonder what she's doing out here," one crewmember ventured, breaking the silence.

"Wonder how she even survived in this storm," another pointed out. "She must be some kind of witch."

"Don't act like an old fool," a third said. "Magic don't exist. She's probably one of those waterbenders."

"Benders can't bend when they're asleep," the second countered.

"Enough," the captain interjected, ending the debate. "It doesn't matter how this girl managed to survive. I want to know who she is." He knelt down next to her and looked her over for any descriptive details. Her clothes looked fairly nondescript, not being specific to any of the nations. She didn't seem to be hurt excepting what looked like a faded burn scar on her middle and a cut on the back of her left shoulder; whatever had hit her there had left a rip in her clothes. When glancing over the rip, he noted something on her back, like a marking. He carefully pushed away the clothing to uncover an intricate tattoo on her back. A triangle of symbols was there; the top seemed to resemble a fire pictogram; the right, an air pictogram; and the bottom, which looked the freshest, a water pictogram.

Hoping that his suspicions might not be confirmed, he turned her back over and looked at the pendant hung around her neck. It had the same three symbols as on her back, but a fourth, an earth pictogram, made it into a square– or a circle.

The captain stood up, a slight frown on his face. "Take her to the medical room and lock her in," he ordered. "And make sure you tie her up with some of that firebending-resistant rope we've got. And bring the hawk with her, it seems to be hers."

The crew looked at the captain, astonished and confused. "Captain, what are you talking about? How do you know she's a firebender?" one asked, voicing the opinions of all present as other nodded.

"Because, men," he said, turning to go below deck, "this girl is the Avatar."

The first thing that Senna noted as she drifted into groggy consciousness was that whatever she was lying on wasn't very comfortable. The second thing she noted– and likely the more important thing– was that her hands were bound. She tried simply burning what she gathered was ropes into ashes, but whatever they were made of, all her bending did was give herself some nasty burns on her wrists. Yelping with pain, she tried to sit up slowly.

"You'll find that those ropes are very difficult to destroy without hurting yourself," a voice said from a corner. She whipped her head around– regretting it as her temples throbbed– to find a middle-aged man sitting in a chair, watching her.

"Where am I?" she asked. "Where's Kini?"

"If you're talking about your bird, she's right here," he said, pointing to a table where, to Senna's relief, her hawk was perched. "You're on a fishing boat headed back to the South Pole," he told her. "We found you floating on the water after a storm. I'll admit, I didn't expect to find you, of all people, out here."

Senna's blood went cold at his implied meaning. "I of all people?" she said, trying to sound innocent and off-hand.

"Don't insult my intelligence. We both know perfectly well who you are, Avatar."

Senna sighed. "Well, there's no avoiding it now. How did you know?"

"Your tattoo of the Avatar Cycle on your back, first of all. That, coupled with the fact that you fit the Avatar's exact description, didn't make it too hard."

"I see. Why did you not expect to find me out here?"

"I didn't expect to find you out here because you supposedly died at the Southern Air Temple two weeks ago."

A murky memory of a battle flashed across Senna's mind, and the man seemed to notice. "I see you know what I speak of."

"I know the event. I didn't know I was supposed to be dead. Last time I checked, I'm the final authority on my status of life."

"That doesn't explain why the rest of the world thinks that you're dead."

Senna sighed. "I honestly don't really have an answer for you. The last thing I remember is standing outside of the Southern Air Temple…then waking up here. Everything in between is a blank."

He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Care to tell me what exactly you were up to at the Southern Air Temple?"

She regarded him suspiciously, but seemed to decide that it wouldn't hurt to tell him. "It's a long story," she warned him.

He laughed hollowly. "I've got plenty of time."

Seven months before

Senna's brow furrowed in concentration as she practically glared at the water shakily floating in front of her. She raised her left hand high above her head, then brought it down in a quick, slicing motion. The water made a half-hearted twitch in the direction of her strike, then fell to the ground and rejoined the snow there.

"Argh!" Senna screamed in frustration, shooting a fireball at the snow at her feet in her anger. It simply melted into more water, as if to mock her.

She wheeled around and stormed back into the heart of the ice city of the North Pole. In the six months that she'd been training with the Northern Water Tribe, she still struggled with simple techniques that her friends had mastered in a matter of days. Stupid prodigies, she thought darkly.

People quickly moved out of her way as she passed, sensing her foul mood. In both the Fire Nation and the Northern Water Tribe, Senna had a record of a remarkable temper, and the people of the North Pole knew to keep well out of her way when she was in a bad mood. It had been hoped that maybe her temper could have been, well, tempered somewhat during her time at the Western and Southern Air Temples, and though it had indeed subsided in her thirteen months of training there, it had simply resurfaced when she had started her water-bending training, and it had come back with a vengeance.

Using a spiteful bit of airbending, she whipped aside the curtain that served as the door to her little igloo. Kini let out a squawk at the disturbance. With a huff, she sat down in the middle of the igloo, folding her legs and placing her hands, palms up, on her knees. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let the breath out. Probably one of the most beneficial things she'd learned at the Air Temples was meditation; it was one of the few things that could calm her down when her temper flared up.

She'd been sitting, practicing her breathing, for no more than three minutes when she heard footsteps approaching her igloo. With a sigh, she brought herself out of her meditation and back to reality.

"Pardon, ma'am, but you've got a visitor," a young girl– a waterbending trainee, Senna remembered– said, obviously uncomfortable at interrupting the older girl.

"Thank you," Senna replied a little shortly, and she heard the girl scamper away. She sighed again, but this time in frustration at herself. Her people skills definitely needed some work.

She got to her feet and exited her igloo the way she'd come less than five minutes before. She looked around for her visitor, and was surprised to see a red, gold, and black-clad figure standing near the entrance to the igloo, entertaining some small children with a clever display of firebending.

Her still-slightly surly expression broke into a wide grin as she recognized the visitor. "Soro!" she exclaimed happily.

He turned his head and, upon seeing her, smiled as well. Tall with longish black hair and gold eyes– incidentally, the same features of Senna's family– Soro had been Senna's best friend almost as long as they could remember. They'd learned firebending together, and so far, they remained fairly evenly matched, which– considering Senna was, after all, the Avatar– spoke volumes for Soro's skill.

He finished his display and detached himself from the group of children, good-naturedly deflecting their protests and pleas for "just one more." He came over and Senna pulled him into a tight hug. Having not seen each other in almost two years, the two friends broke apart and studied each other, noting what had and hadn't changed.

Senna grinned. "It's good to see you, Soro," she said honestly. "But what are you doing here in the North Pole? I thought you hated the snow."

"Well, for a firebender, that's just second nature," he laughed, then sobered. "Actually, I didn't want to have to come, at least not for this purpose."

She frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked, beginning to worry.

He gently led her back into the igloo. "I'm sorry to be the harbinger of bad news, Senna," he apologized. "But we figured you'd take it best from me."

The steel ship cut through the waves of the sea like a knife through soft butter. Senna stood at the railing, staring out at the water. The expression on her face was a mixture of sorrow and regret.

Soro came up to stand beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked gently.

She took a deep breath. "I will be," she said somewhat evasively. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She sighed. "I just wish that I could have gotten more time with her," she said, "to get to know her better. I lived with the woman for sixteen years, and yet I barely knew my mother at all. I left for my training almost two years ago without seeing her once in that time, and before I found out that I was the Avatar, she was always too busy. But now we'll never have a chance to fix things."

"I know she loved you, Senna," Soro assured her. "Your mother was many things, but she was never heartless, and I know that she loved you and Anzu and Kuzon very much."

Senna gave a bitter, half-hearted smile. "I never thought I'd miss her this much," she admitted, her voice rough with emotion. Soro slipped his hand from one shoulder to the other, so that his arm was around her shoulders as he pulled her into a comforting hug.

Mm. Well, hope you don't mind, but Soro is basically Zuko. With a little of Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke thrown in.

I'm hoping to not make this story identical to the series. We'll see how well I succeed. The nice thing is that I will not have to worry about OOC-ness, with maybe one exception. (FORESHADOWING! ;D ) And feel free to correct me if I get some details wrong. I'm doing my research as much as possible.

So. Here's where I shamelessly beg for reviews. Hope y'all don't mind! But I'd really love to hear from you guys, even if it's just a line. Thanks!

Cheers,

~RAH