A/N: I swear, I am good for stacking work up. I've got three multi-chap stories that have been neglected (two of which I'm working to revitalize) and one active multi-chap, and now I'm tacking on another. How many brands of crazy am I?
Okay, before I start yammering like I oftentimes do, I should give credit where credit is due. Inspiration for this story came directly from TheBlueFoxtrot A Samba's Warehouse of Imaginations, specifically, Chapter 26. Seriously, before you read my story, I suggest reading that one-shot. Not only does it help explain (partially) just WTF is going on in this AU, but it's also just plain funny!
So, As I was saying, this is my beloved creation. I'd spill info about the timeline, the plot, and the AU changes, but I find it's more fun to spill those details as the story rolls along. Speaking of rolling along, given the [potentially] extreme complexities that a story like this will demand, expect each chapter to take up-to one or one-and-a-half months to be posted. I'll certainly try to move faster, but I don't wanna make any promises I can't keep, especially with my having four still-active stories and school and life all still being major factors.
Hope you enjoy, and as always, Read, Revel (or Regurgitate) and Review!
NOTE/DISCLAIMER: First and Foremost, I own nobody in the Avatar Universe who is not an OC, of which I have none currently. Secondly and still foremost (I know that makes no sense), JESUSFREAK-And-Proud-Of-It will be my Chief Beta for this project. Jiao-Jie, Sun Daughter, and Forever Fyre are my secondaries and will be called upon as needed.
A Future Uncertain
Prologue
The smell and sounds of burning wood and metal filled Ty Lee's senses, assisting the wave of nausea that was already brought on by Death's grueling breath. Explosions rattled Caldera as zeppelins and gliders hovered overhead, dropping their munitions in a carpet bombing fashion, having long established air superiority in the sky above.
The moon's curse upon the sun was finally lifted, but it did not matter now. The remains of airships and tanks littered the streets. Fire swept through much of the city, turning the once beautiful ruby-red of the buildings to a deathly tar-black. As her eyes followed the billows of smoke that choked the sky, Ty Lee fought back tears as she beheld this scene. Her home and her hope were both going up in flames.
The acrobat fought to keep her mind focused on the battle at hand. Ty's arms and legs were covered with bruises and cuts. Her beloved circus garbs were tattered and torn. Her mind was racing, her head growing dizzy. Her body was exhausted, having taken down more enemies than she could try to count and suffering more hits than she would dare admit.
She threatened to collapse as she dodged a boulder chucked at her by an earthbender, one in a seemingly infinite legion that vowed to overwhelm her. She prepared to charge him when another earthbender shifted the ground beneath her. Her legs, burning in protest, fought to maintain their balance. She stole a glance to her left towards the new threat, just in time to see an assailant charging for her friend.
"Aang, watch your left!"
The Avatar ducked beneath an earthy spear and snapped his body to meet the threat, using a bent air current to lift the soldier off the ground and over his head. He winced as the man fell back to earth, his skull cracking hard against the ironclad palace behind him. Rebounding from this slight twinge of guilt, the nomad blasted a torrent of fire against a duo of swordsmen that was approaching from the left flank. They scattered to opposite sides of the roaring flame as they pressed forward.
Ty Lee was barely managing to hold her ground against her own enemies. With a haphazard looking dip, a frightened spin, a punishing leap to the side, she narrowly avoided the pillars that threatened to knock her head from her shoulders. She glanced anxiously at Aang to see how he was fairing when she noticed two more pairs of soldiers barreling towards him from behind. She couldn't warn him of the soldiers, for fear of his being caught by the swordsmen. Yet she wouldn't dare let him be downed by the unseen threat.
She delivered a quick flurry of punches to her opponents to knock them back before turning to retreat. She burst into a hard pressed run, shifting into a speeding cartwheel and catapulting herself into the air. She landed right in front of Aang's unseen predators in a pink blur, quickly downing them with a series of focused punches before they could fully register her presence. With his 6 o'clock cleared and hearing the pained grunts of full grown men, she knew that Aang had dispatched the swordsmen. She jumped back with a flip and landed behind the Avatar, shifting into a defensive stance.
They now stood back-to-back, her presence affirming to the airbender that she had him covered.
"How long…do you think we can…hold out?" the girl huffed, staring down their predators with an unforgiving sense of terror as they moved to encircle them.
Aang's stare threatened to bore holes into the soldiers that now surrounded them as they made their menacing approach. "For as long as we can. If they capture the Fire Lord, then it's all over."
Ty Lee nodded sadly. Even with all the optimism that both she and Aang could muster, they knew their worst-case scenario was their reality. The invasion had been fast and furious. Tens of thousands of soldiers had been killed all around them. Now, she and Aang were the only ones keeping the Earth Kingdom from storming the palace and claiming total victory in the war.
Looking to the burning noir palace, she fought the urge to cry. Countless generations of Fire Lord called that palace home. In many ways, it'd become her own home. The Fire Lady had all but raised her beyond those sheltered black walls. She played with her best friends there, friends who'd come to be like brothers and sisters to her.
"So, this is our last stand." Ty Lee voiced shakily. Despite the blasts of sadness that pounded at her heart, she managed a smirk. "At least we'll go down swinging."
"We're gonna make it out of this," Aang said in assurance, all the while wincing from his own cuts and bruises. "We still have a date on Ember Island, and you still have to teach me how to play Kuei Ball, remember?"
Ty couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, well you promised to teach me how to make me Shitake Mushroom Barley Soup." Aang smiled in acknowledgment before returning his glance to the surrounding soldiers.
The troops prepared to make their final push against the duo when a voice ripped their attention to the entrance of the Fire Nation Palace.
"Seriously, you guys are still here?" A girl asked tauntingly, her confidence far outshining her banged up appearance.
Ty Lee stared in shock, not at all expecting her entrance. "Azula, what are you doing?"
"Come now, Ty Lee, you know I'm not going to stand idly while a bunch of Earth Kingdom bastards take our home." Azula then turned her amber eyes to the sea of soldiers. "Well, you're looking for the Fire Lord? You've found her." A smirk slithered up her face. "Come get some."
If the soldiers were fazed by the fact that their final target was a 14 year old girl with a bandaged head, they successfully hid it as they all went into a full-on charge towards her Majesty. Azula responded by directing a bolt of lightning at the center of the platoon. Screams filled the air as the resulting explosion threw dozens of men skyward. Aang assisted in breaking the charge by shifting the ground beneath the rear of the platoon, while Ty Lee jumped into the middle of what still remained of the stampede, disabling whoever she could jab her fingers into.
Azula looked with a content and mocking smile at the small band of troops that remained of her first wave as they continued to press toward her. They were only a couple dozen meters from her now. Three…two…one. Her smile strengthened when she heard an ever familiar whistle from behind.
Right before the soldiers could get in contact range, they suddenly found themselves flying back from whence they came, slamming into other troops who were still in approach and toppling the charge.
"Right on time, Mai," Azula commented coolly.
The knife-thrower simply stopped at her friend's side, her expression unreadable, as always. "I'm surprised our beloved little commander isn't here. No way she would pass up the chance to take you down, not to mention the Capitol."
Azula snorted, her passiveness burning to a crisp as she observed the still overwhelming forces that yet stormed through the Caldera Royal. "No doubt she's here," Azula said, her clever smirk shifting to a spiteful sneer. "I've been waiting for a rematch with that griffon." She glanced to Aang and Ty Lee as they retreated to her position at the top of the shallow stairs.
"How are you two lovebirds holding up?"
Before either could relay a response, the ground beneath them exploded, sending the teens flying towards the palace. Ty Lee and Aang barely managed to recover from the burst, hitting the ground and skidding to a stop on their feet with the fort walls at their backs. Azula slammed hard into the bastion's exterior, tumbling to the ground all the while howling in pain as her head throbbed afresh with piercing agony. Mai flew into the entrance of the building, sliding to a stop in the narrow hall.
The dust cleared to reveal another girl, around their age, but strikingly short in stature. Her eyes were foggy green, frowning with a combination of contempt and satisfaction, the latter emotion more prevalent in her smirk. Dressed in a black robe with green trim, she stood at the head of a band of earthbenders, all dressed the same, but all of a lower rank as indicated by their domed hats.
As Azula rose up from her downed place on the ground, she glared with hatred upon recognizing the girl. Commander Toph, leader of the Dai Li Special Ops force. She had them pinned at the funneled palace entrance.
"I see you finally came out of your dirty burrow, you wench," Azula spat.
Toph's smirk was left unwavering. "What's the matter, Sparky? Still mad at how I wasted your loser brother?"
The Fire Lord's brows dug trenches into her face, her scowl turning almost demonic. "You won't catch me by surprise like you did Zuko."
"I hope not," Toph coolly taunted. "Otherwise, killing you and your pitiful friends and taking this rathole of a capitol wouldn't be as satisfying."
Azula was red hot with hatred. "You won't lay a hand on my friends!"
"Wasn't planning to." Toph motioned a hand forward. "Take the lackeys, boys. Her 'Highness' is mine."
Azula, despite the agonizing inferno swelling in her head, took stance to defend the others, sparks popping from her finger tips.
Ty Lee joined Azula's side, determined to stay with her 'til death. Aang and Mai also joined with the Fire Lord, declaring the same silent vow.
Staring Death itself in the face, the acrobat found herself thinking of what all transpired in the past year. So much had happened since Zuko and Azula first found the Avatar. She couldn't help but wonder…was there anything that happened in that seemingly eternal span of time that could've turned the tide of this conflict? Was it possible that this band of teens really could've prevented this? One last question flashed on her mind as she saw Azula tense up, ready to charge.
Was there still a chance to save the Fire Nation and the balance of this world?
F/N: So yeah, I'm starting at the end and rolling back to the beginning. I've seen this done in a few books, including several novels from one of my favorite authors, Nicholas Sparks. This was a risky move for me because it reveals the end result of the story before it truly starts, and I also had to try and avoid revealing too much information (something I still fear I've done.) At the same time, I have to have enough details to make the story interesting and wanting to know more (Toph's rise to heading the Dai Li, the Dai Li itself being converted into a special-ops military unit, Azula's rise to Fire Lord, etc.) I promise these will be revealed in due time.
On a lighter, more useless note, it just hit me. This story marks the 25,700th story in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Fandom! For kicks, it's the 5546th story under the Aang category, the 536th under the Ty Lee category, and the 9th to feature the two as main characters in a given story.
Anywho, that's all for now! Don't forget to leave a review by pressing that green button below and typing a bunch of words (hopefully into a coherent series of complete sentences). :D