DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER.
Water. Earth. Fire. Air. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days: a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements; only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years have passed, and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. Two years ago, my father and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me and my brother to look after our tribe. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and that the cycle is broken, but I haven't lost hope. I still believe that, somehow, the Avatar will return to save the world.
Rohan thought he had the worst headache ever. He felt cold. He noticed that he wasn't dressed for the weather here. He was wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt, loose orange shawls, brown pants, tall red boots and a bandana styled like a blinfold with white wind designs. He at least was happy that his head wasn't shaved like Aang's. He never would let the monks shave his head. He wanted to keep his messy black hair. God, he remembered all the fuss that was made for him refusing to have the arrow chi tattoos made up to his head.
He wanted to get up from what seemed to be a saddle but he felt tired. He then realized he was on top of Aang's flying bison. 'What was Aang's bison name? Agga? Adda? Appa? Oh, yes it was Appa.' Rohan thought.
He then remembered what happened. Him and Aang were leaving the Air Temple and heading towards the South Pole when they were caught in a storm. Then Aang disappeared and then he noticed he was starting to freeze. Rohan then tried to sense if anyone was around and noticed three heartbeats and a voice of a certain friend of his.
"Will you go penguin sledding with me?"
Rohan chuckled the moment he heard his best friend ask the question to some people. By their voices they seemed to be a girl and a boy.
"Hey, Rohan." Aang greeted.
"Good morning, Aang." Rohan greeted his best friend and then bowed at the girl and the boy. "Hello, my name is Rohan this here is the Av-"
"Aang! Nice to meet you!" Aang interrupted his introduction. The boy than touched Rohan with a spear.
"What the hell happened! How did you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?" the boy frantically asked us.
"Ah.. I'm not sure." Aang told him and when the boy glared at me I just shrugged. Then we heard a rumbling noise coming from Appa and Aang immediately went to Appa.
"Appa! Are you alright! Wake up buddy!" Aang asked his bison while the Water Tribe girl and boy's jaw were hanging open at seeing the bison then Appa licked Aang with his giant tongue.
"You're okay!" Aang laughed as he hugged Appa's nose.
"Greetings, Appa." Rohan greeted the bison who licked him in return.
"What is that thing?" the boy asked as he pointed at the bison.
"This is Appa, my flying bison." Aang answered and I nodded in agreement.
"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister." the boy replied sarcastically.
"Interesting, I have a flying friend." Rohan retorted and made Katara giggle.
Appa then started to breathe deeply and then sneezed a large green blast which almost hit Rohan in the back but he instantly jumped in the air and it hit Sokka. Sokka was then completely covered with it while Katara was puzzled as to where Rohan was.
"Don't worry. It'll wash off. So you guys live here?" Aang asked curiously.
"Don't answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light?! He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!" the boy immediately interrupted her sister before she said anything and pushed his spear towards Aang.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by that evil look in his eye." Katara sarcastically said as Aang shot an earnest grin. "The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka. Uhm... Aang wasn't it? Where is Ro-Rohan?"
"He's u-up the-!" Aang then sneezed and went up in a blast of air and landed on the ground with Rohan unharmed.
"You should have covered your nose, Aang." Rohan scolded Aang who shot him another earnest grin.
"You just sneezed… and flew ten feet on the air!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Really, it felt higher than that?" Aang said as he shot a questioning look at Rohan who nodded in agreement.
"You're airbenders!" Katara concluded.
"Sure are!" Aang responded cheerfully as he put an arm around Rohan's shoulder who smiled in confirmation.
"Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders…" Sokka muttered to himself as he walked away. "I think I got midnight sun madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense." But then realized he was stranded.
"Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa, Rohan and I can give you a lift." Aang said as he airbended himself and Rohan airbended himself in the saddle.
"We'd love a ride! Thanks!" Katara responded as she ran to the side of the bison.
"Oh no! I'm not getting on that fluffy snot monster!" Sokka objected.
"Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come along and give you a ride home? You know, before you freeze to death?" Katara told Sokka as she was helped by Rohan. Sokka was about to retaliate but then realized he nothing to say.
With all of them on the saddle with different expressions. Sokka sulking while Katara was giddy with excitement and Rohan smiling at her excitement.
"Okay, first time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip-yip!" Aang announced and the bison jumped in the air but then belly-flopped into the water.
"Wow, that was truly amazing…" Sokka commented sarcastically and earned an angry glance from Katara.
"Yes, very." Rohan retorted at which Sokka scoffed
"Appa's just a little tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see…" Aang reassured the Water Tribe siblings. Katara smiled at that and Aang smiled back while she turned her back she noticed that Aang was still smiling at her.
"Why are you smiling at me like that?" Katara asked uncomfortably by which Aang was surprised.
"He's an airhead." Rohan responds which made Katara and Aang laugh while Sokka groaned.
It was now night Sokka was fast asleep while the others were awake. Aang was laying on Appa's head with his staff and was talking to Katara while Rohan was spinning his staff on the side of the saddle. Katara spoke to Aang for a bit then moved closer to Rohan.
"Hey." Katara greeted Rohan
"Hey." Rohan greeted back. "Did you want something?"
"Yeah, I've been wondering why you keep that blindfold all the time. Can you even see through that?" Katara answered giving a curious glance at him.
Rohan sighed at first knowing this would come and took his orange blinfold off leaving her to see grey eyes that were not looking at her or even blinking. "I'm blind." Rohan informed her and earned a gasp from Katara.
"But your eyes seem fine and how could you see us today?"
"I can't see not like you, but I can feel. I can feel the slightest change in air density and I can also hear and smell things far beyond you or anyone can. I can tell you by my sense of smell that you had fish for breakfast and I also can hear your heartbeat." Rohan explained to Katara.
"So, what do you see?" Katara asked Rohan who thought about it before he answered.
"Mixing all those things… A world on fire." Rohan answered and from his point view you could feel like everything was on fire.
"I'm sorry. That must suck."
"Nah, don't be if it wasn't for what I could do, I wouldn't have been able to jump out of Appa's boogers today." Rohan reassured her at which Katara laughed.
"Goodnight, Rohan."
"Goodnight, Katara." Rohan said as he drifted in to sleep.
Rohan and Aang were sleeping on top of Appa while Appq was flying as storm was gathering in front of them. Appa was going down while him and Aang were screaming their lungs out when they crashed into the water. Rohan then suddenly saw a shimmering light in all the darkness that he always knew and he couldn't believe it. He could see Aang glowing in a bluish light as he pressed his fist together and freezed them.
"Rohan? Aang? Rohan! Aang! Wake up." Aang and Rohan at the same time perch up and lift the covers gasping for breath. "It's okay, we're in the village now! Come on, get ready. Everyone's waiting to meet you."
Aang and Rohan both nod and start to get dressed in their clothes. Katara notices the blue lines and arrows across both of their bodies. But she noticed a difference Aang's arrows ended on his head while Rohan's arrows ended on his neck. She then noticed Rohan's body was very toned, he must have trained hard and Rohan's head faced her and he noticed she was staring and she blushed.
She shook her head and grabbed both their hand and grabbed them outside towards a small group of what seemed to be the villagers.
"Aang, Rohan, this is the entire village." Katara said as she pointed to the line of villagers in front of them and mentally chastised herself for forgetting that Rohan was blind. "Entire village, Aang and Rohan."
Aang and Rohan bow respectfully toward the villages, but they cower away in fear, bringing a surprised look to Katara and Aang's faces. "Aang, their heartbeats are up. They're scared." Rohan whispered to Aang.
"Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you." an old woman told them as she approached them.
"Extinct?" Aang and Rohan gasp at the same time.
"Aang, Rohan, this is my grandmother." Katara introduced her grandmother.
"Call me, Gran-Gran."
Sokka then abruptly snatches Rohan's staff out of his hands and starts to examine it. "What is this, a weapon? You can't stab anything with this!"
"It's not a weapon. I use it to give me a better sense of direction since I'm blind. Like who wears a blindfold just for fashion." Rohan informed Sokka whose eyes softened a bit and gave back Rohan his staff.
"And for airbending." Aang announced as he and Rohan open their staffs into gliders.
"Magic! Do it again!" a village girl asks.
"It's not magic. It's airbending." Aang corrected her as he moved his glider around him, visually demonstrating what he is talking about. "It lets us control the air currents around my glider and fly."
"Ya know, last time I checked, humans can't fly!" Sokka mocked in disbelief.
"Didn't I tell you I have a flying friend?" Rohan asked Sokka as he and Aang lifted off into the air.
Aang and Rohan start maneuvering around the air as villagers watch with wide eyes of the display until Aang hits what seemed to be a snow "watchtower".
"My watchtower!" Sokka exclaimed while Rohan landed swiftly on the ground beside Aang.
"Be more careful, Aang." Rohan scolded Aang while helping him up.
"That was amazing!" Katara cried out in admiration while snow fell on Sokka while he tried to recover what remained of the "watchtower".
"Great. You're airbenders, Katara's a waterbender. Together you can just waste time all day long." Sokka muttered as he patted of snow.
"You're a waterbender!" Aang pipes up.
"Well, sort of. Not yet." Katara nervously said.
"Aang and I became master airbenders this year. If this goofball can do it," Rohan said as he pointed to Aang licking his staff and gets his tongue stuck on the staff. "Then surely you can."
"Thanks." Katara responds with a smile.
"All right, no more playing. Come on, Katara, you have chores." Gran-Gran told Katara as she led her away from Rohan.
"I told you, they're the real things Gran-Gran! I finally found benders to teach me!" Katara told he grandmother.
"Katara, try not to put all your hopes in these boys." Gran-Gran advised her.
"But they're special! I can tell! I sense they're filled with much wisdom." Katara said as she looked back at Aang who had his tongue still on the staff and got a light slap on his head from Rohan who started to scold him.
Rohan was meditating, it was very calming and he could feel everything in more a precise matters. He could hear the penguins down the village and spirits he hoped that Aang didn't notice them. He also heard Sokka's speech to the village boys while it may have been great in front of warriors it was completely missed by children. He also then heard Aang playing those children and heard something that filled him with dread.
"Stop! Stop it right now! What's wrong with you?! We don't have time for fun and games with the War going on!"
Rohan panicked on his mind when he heard those words. He remembered his father trying to-
"Hey, Rohan! Let's go penguin sledding!" Aang interrupted his thoughts as he rushed towards him.
"Alright, Aang I'll come." Rohan told Aang who grabbed his arm and ran with him towards the penguins.
After a numerous failed attempts with Aang to catch a penguin, Katara approached them.
"Aang, Rohan?"
"Hey, come on little guy. Wanna go sledding?" Aang asks as he jumps at a penguin, but the penguin evaded his attempt and Aang belly flops into the snow. He turns on his back and quickly erects himself with his airbending as Katara comes up beside him. "Heh heh. I have a way with animals."
"I distinctly remember a lemur trying to scratch your eyes out." Rohan disagreed with a smirk and earned a laugh from both Aang and Katara.
"Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending." Katara proposes to Aang who looks unsure and looks at Rohan.
"I'm sorry, Katara but I don't think we're able to teach you waterbending as we are airbenders." Rohan said as he tried to carefully approach a penguin. "Isn't there someone that can teach in your tribe?"
"No. You're looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole" Katara informed them sadly.
"That's not right." Rohan commented and then had an idea. "Maybe there is someone in the Northern Water Tribe that can teach you."
"Maybe, but we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It's not exactly "turn right at the second glacier". It's on the other side of the world." Katara told them.
"But you forget, I have a flying bison." Aang said happily as he pointed to himself. "Appa, Rohan and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we're going to find you a master!"
"That's ... I mean, I don't know. I've never left home before." Katara said unsurely.
"Well, dwell on it a bit. Now, I think you have to teach us how to catch penguins." Rohan told her.
"Okay, listen closely my young pupils. Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art. Observe!" Katara yelled as she threw two fishes at them and penguins started flooding them.
Aang, Rohan and Katara sled with penguins through the frozen tundra until they were met by an astonishing sight of a large metal ship with a Fire Nation flag.
"Whoa! What is that?" Aang said in awe of it.
"A Fire Navy ship. And a very bad memory for my people." Katara told them in a gloom tone and Aang begins to approach the wreckage. "Aang, stop! We're not allowed to go near it! The ship could be booby-trapped!"
"If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear." Aang told Katara who looked unsure.
"He is right, Katara." Rohan informed Katara and then she began to approach Aang. "But you do not have to let go of caution, Aang. Katara is right, I can sense several booby-traps on the ships."
Aang then gave a sheepish grin towards them while Rohan turned to face Katara. "What is a Fire Navy ship doing here?"
"This ship has been here since Gran-Gran was a little girl. It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks." Katara informed Rohan and Aang who looked at her in disbelief.
"Okay, back up. I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation for example Rohan's father was from the Fire Nation and Rohan lived half of his childhood there. We've never seen any war." Aang asserted and Katara gasped at the new piece of information.
"Aang, Rohan, I think you've been in the iceberg for a century." Katara argued and they looked at her in disbelief.
"What that's impossible do I look like 112 year old man to you and does Rohan look 114 years old?" Aang yelled in disbelief.
"Think about it. The War is a century old. You don't know about it because, somehow, you were in there the whole time! It's the only explanation." Katara concluded and Aang's and Rohan's face were changed to ones of comprehension.
"A hundred years! I can't believe it." Aang said saddened while Rohan leaned to his staff.
"I'm sorry, Aang. Maybe somehow there's a bright side to all this…" Katara comforted Aang and Rohan.
"She's right, Aang." Rohan told Aang who looked at him questiongly. "We met Katara…okay, and maybe Sokka." They laughed heartily at this and rushed back at the village but they didn't know they were being watched by a certain scarred prince.