Finally decided to write this fic since it has been on my mind for a while. Hopefully it's different than the other fics out there and you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender, some characters are of my own creation.

Book 4

Prologue

Six years… A long time had passed since Sozin's comet; since the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai.

"Aang, wait up!"

"Come on Katara! You mean to tell me that after almost two years of training with Master Pakku you can't keep up with me!" The 18 year old Avatar laughed as he flew over Katara and began to speed up creating a bigger distance between them.

Katara was annoyed; she hadn't seen Aang in a whole year and he still felt like messing with her. Sometimes she wondered if the Aang was still the same 12 year old she first met in the shell of an older man.

Aang was enjoying himself. He was flying at a good speed and loved how the wind would brush against him. His enjoyment died however when a wall of ice appeared in front of him. It appeared so suddenly that he almost crashed into it, but being the master airbender he was he stopped himself in mid-air and let himself float to the ground. He watched as Katara was running to his location.

"That could have been dangerous Katara," said Aang holding in his laugh as she finally reached him.

"I was hoping you would crash in to it. It would serve you right for being a jerk," said Katara a little out of breath from trying to keep up with the Avatar. She was going to continue to but before she could say anything else that same Avatar pulled her into a hug.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too," said Katara, already forgetting that she was mad.

They separated a little and looked into each others eyes. The distance between them began to close. Their lips only inches apart.

Boom!

The ground shook as the couple separated from the shock. Katara couldn't even register what happened before a giant tongue licked her, covering her in saliva.

"I missed you too Appa," she said with a smile on her face, although she was a little annoyed he had interrupted her moment with Aang.

"Great timing boy," said Aang a little sarcastically. He simply sighed and jumped onto Appa's back. "Come on Katara. Everyone is going to be waiting for us at Ba Sing Se. You'll finally see your brother and father again." Katara smiled as she grabbed the hand Aang offered and climbed onto Appa's back. She couldn't wait for the reunion.

After the war had ended, the "Gaang" still traveled the world. There was chaos all over the world as some of the soldiers in the fire nation army rebelled against the new peaceful Fire Lord. There were also some groups of people, varying from villagers to soldiers to even benders that tried seek revenge against the fire nation; and did so with an iron fist. It took nearly three years for there to be real peace. After that the Gaang finally did something they hadn't had a chance to do since Aang had awakened; they relaxed. It was Iroh who suggested they separate after a year passed of just relaxation. All of them were strong, but not full masters of their element, or art in Sokka's and Suki's case. They never had the time to truly refine their skills.

Toph went to Omashu to train with King Bumi. Katara returned to the North Pole to train with Master Pakku. Fire Lord Zuko trained with his uncle of course, but only for a short period of time as he had a tea shop to run in Ba Sing Se. His uncle though left Jeong Jeong, who proved to be almost if not on the same level as his uncle in terms of skill and better when it came to actually teaching, in charge of training the Fire Lord. Suki returned to Kyoshi Island to continue her training as a Kyoshi warrior. Sokka traveled with his father and learned as much he could from him, it wasn't long however before he found Master Piandao and continued his training under him. Aang had to travel between all of them however. Meeting each of his friends and training alongside them for periods of time, until he mastered each element. Being the Avatar, he was able to succeed in mastering all of the elements. Even after that he took time to train alongside Sokka. The sword and hand to hand combat seemed to be the only thing Aang wasn't good at though, but he did improve enough for Hakoda to say he was pretty good. Master Piandao however said his skills were adequate at best.

Now all of Aang's friends were done with their training and the anniversary of Fire Lord Ozai's defeat was coming. It was because of this that a large reunion was planned. The Gaang would be back together for the fist time in nearly two years.

"So how long should it take to get to Ba Sing Se?" asked Katara.

"About three to four days if we try to make as little stops as possible," answered Aang.

Katara smiled as she thought about having four days alone with Aang. It was going to be amaz…

Thud… Aang and Katara turned around to see…

"Master Pakku?"

"Well, let's get going," he said, "it has been a long time since I've seen my friends. The Order of the White Lotus will be back together."

Katara turned back around and sighed. She had forgotten that all of their teachers would be there as well. Aang smiled, not noticing the frown on Katara's face.

"Yip Yip!"

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"Fire Lord Zuko, all of the preparations for our departure are complete."

"You know you don't have to be so respectful Master Jeong Jeong," said the no 22 year old Fire Lord. "I owe you a lot; you can speak normally with me."

The old master gave a small chuckle, "Of course, I suppose it's just a habit. The same goes for you. You shouldn't call me master anymore; you've surpassed me."

The Fire Lord smiled, "I don't think me defeating you a few times in sparring compared to all of the times you defeated me means that I've surpassed you."

Jeong Jeong returned the smile with one of his own, "If you say so Fire Lord." Jeong Jeong wasn't lying when he said Zuko had surpassed him. Zuko was now a far more skilled firebender that he was. The only reason Jeong Jeong would still win almost all of their spars was his experience in combat.

"I'll return in a bit Master, and then we'll leave."

Jeong Jeong nodded as he made his way towards the air balloon they were going to use to travel to Ba Sing Se. Zuko made his way through his palace until he reached the deep basement hidden underneath it. This basement was the hidden prison of one of the most notorious criminals in the history of the fire nation. He had tried to take control of the whole world by destroying everything that stood in his way. This prison had been built specifically to hold him. He nodded to the guard outside one of the cells and entered.

"Hello Zuko," Ozai, the former Fire Lord and Self-Proclaimed Phoenix King, greeted his son as he saw him enter.

Zuko stared at the man behind the bars. His cell was a normal one, because that is all they needed to hold him. His firebending had been taken away by the Avatar. The man behind this cell was nothing but a normal man.

"I'm just here to tell you that I will be gone for a couple days." Zuko decided not to answer the greeting.

"I guess that means that you won't be here to question me. I'll miss my daily interrogation," he said sarcastically.

Zuko said nothing as he turned around to leave.

"I'll never tell you," said Ozai before Zuko left. Zuko turned his head slightly at his father's words, as if he didn't hear him. Ozai knew he had heard him though, "I just wanted you to know that."

Zuko remained still for a moment before finally leaving. He walked back through the palace knowing it was almost time for him to leave. He saw Mai waiting for him outside the entrance of the air ballon.

"Where were you?" asked Mai.

"I had to take care of something before we left," answered Zuko.

"Well, go wave to the crowd before you leave, my father organized it as a thank you for leaving him in charge of the country while you're gone." She smiled and made a motion towards the edge of the platform the air balloon was on.

Zuko looked over the edge of the platform and saw a huge crowd assembled outside the palace. The Fire Lord waved and the crowd erupted into cheers to say farewell.

"Your father went too far," said Zuko a little embarrassed about all of the attention. "He was the perfect choice for the job. He's better at governing than I am anyway."

"He didn't do it only for you," she said as she also waved at the crowd which caused another eruption of cheers. "He did it as a sort of special present for our engagement. Although I don't get what's so special about it."

Zuko smiled at her and gave her a small kiss. He began to walk into the air balloon and watched as she quickly followed him. He decided not to tease her about the blush she had on her face.

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In the crowd their stood one Fire Nation guard that was watching the event with great interest. He watched as the air balloon began to slowly go further and further away. He smiled behind his mask. The exiled prince was no longer there to stand in his way; and his old master had gone with him. It was the opportunity he had been waiting for. Now he could begin his plans to take over the Fire Nation.

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Deep in the Fire Nation there is a jungle considered to be cursed, for anyone that traveled to deep into it would never return. No one knew what it was that seemed to erase the existence of whoever ventured to deep in. It was in this jungle that an old man known as Hyun-Shik Sook was trying to stop a young man from leaving the village that was hidden in this jungle. It was this village that was the reason no one returned. They did whatever they could to keep their existence a secret.

"Stop! I said to stop Kang-Dae!" yelled Hyun.

The young man known as Kang turned around to face him. "Don't try to stop me Hyun."

"I can't let you leave. This place must remain hidden. We need you to protect it," pleaded Hyun.

"No one will find out about this place from me, you know that. And you know that I didn't train myself to protect this place Hyun. You know why I worked so hard, it wasn't for this village."

"Why?" asked Hyun after a moment. "We live in peace here Kang. There is nothing for you out there, revenge won't bring you happiness."

"We live in hiding, not peace. Revenge is all I've wanted all my life. I won't stop, I'm going to leave."

"I won't let you leave," said Hyun as he took a fighting stance. "I'll stop you."

Kang stood still and for a moment looked unwilling to fight. That quickly changed as he got serious. "Come and try."

Hyun knew he didn't stand a chance, but he had to try. He crouched preparing to charge, but it was over before he could even move. He fell to the ground in pain, the shock still running through his body. He was much too old and much too slow to fight with Kang on even ground.

"You should be fine, I held back." Kang began to walk away.

Hyun couldn't move; he was in too much pain. "Don't think this is over!" he yelled, "I'll send men after! I'll send Shin and Hyo after you!" Kang continued walking. Hyun put his head down as he was desperate and too tired to yell any more, "I'll send Dae-Ho," he said almost whispering

Kang froze, but only for a moment. Hyun didn't notice because by the time he raised his head, Kang-Dae Sook, the boy he had raised like a son, was gone.

Hope everyone liked the prologue. I'm not sure if everyone is gonna like the OC's, I figured there would need to be something new added to the story, whether they're villains or not. If the majority of people don't like the OC's, their roles in the story will be toned down. As for the guard, he's a bad guy, and I'm sure mostly everyone can figure out who it is if they read closely. Well thats it, I'll try to update as soon as possible since I think this is going to be the story I focus on most from now on. I would appreciate any feedback.