Prologue - Birth of a New Era
Aang and Katara sat outside on a late autumn evening, enjoying the last warm rays of sun of the dying year as they took in their surroundings. They had lived here together, in a simple house near a village in the now peaceful Fire Nation, for the past decades, travelling often to fulfil Aang's peace-making Avatar duties, but always returning home with a smile and a contented sigh. They had grown old together without realizing, Katara thought as Aang wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned against her heavily. They had spited age for many years, and now it was catching up with them.
"Katara…" Aang sighed, turning towards her slowly.
Her eyes locked with his, and she could see his expression fading.
"I love you, Katara. I always have."
His eyes closed slowly, and as he took his final breath, a faint voice carried the last words he ever heard to his ears.
"I love you too, Aang. I always will."
And so, in the arms of his beloved wife, with her tears falling down on his peaceful face, Avatar Aang, one of the last Airbenders, passed away.
And, with the innocent cry of a newborn baby, the new Avatar was born.
A/N: Wanted to make this quick and relatively painless. Bye Aang, you know we love you.
And yes, I said 'one of the last' Airbenders. Hint hint, wink wink. This story takes place about eighty years after the show, so some aspects of the world will have changed – modernisation, and all that.