`Hey everyone! So I've lately been watching LOK again and from most of the fanfics about the next avatar that I've read, they all seem to be going with an earth bender as per the cycle of the elements. I decided , why not try go a different route ? And I have presented a legitimate reason as to why the Avatar in this series is a fire bender and not an earth bender.

So I present, Avatar Kazuhiko! (Pronounced Kuh-zu-iko) or Kazu(Kah-zu) for short.

This is only my second ever fanfic on here! So, I'll do my best and let me know what you guys think! Constructive criticism and suggestions to improve are welcome! Cheers!

Legend Of Korra and all other 'Avatar' related Material are owned by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

BOOK ONE : ACCEPTANCE

Chapter One - The Revelation


Air. Water. Earth. Fire. The world of man and Spirits lived in harmony with each other.

Avatar Korra maintained peace and balance in the world for many years during her time as the Avatar. But nothing lasts forever. A dark Spirit entity entered this world and threatened to throw it into chaos. This entity of darkness was known as the Raksh.

The four nations rallied behind Avatar Korra as conflict built up between the rest of the world and with the Dark spirit and it's followers,a cult organization calling themselves the Rakshasans , who sought to wipe out both good and evil from the world, claiming that that state would be true balance of norms that the Avatar had failed to bring in so many lifetimes.

A battle ensued between the Avatar Korra and Raksh deep within the spirit realms on the other side of the portals.

That was the last time the world saw Avatar Korra. The legendary Avatar mysteriously vanished after her fight in the spirit world with Raksh reemerging to the mortal world. No one knows to this day what happened on that fateful plane, though stories have been told of that day.

With the Avatar fallen, no one stood in their way.

On the day the Avatar Korra vanished, the Raksh lay waste to the earth kingdom , purging the lands of every single newborn,killing the avatar-to-be while she was still in her mother's womb , thus delaying the Avatar's return.

The Rakshasans had succeeded in performing what the fire nation had failed to do over two centuries Raksh had succeeded in killing the avatar.

Panic gripped the world's leaders as the obvious target would be the fire nation .

On the fateful night, one the twelfth day of La's moon, Raksh confronted the baby Avatar and yet, somehow, the child survived.

The dark spirit vanished,for it's power had rebounded on itself and had never been seen since.

Avatar Korra's time in this world had come to an end , and no one knows who the new Avatar or where he is, for he was hidden away from the world . But I believe he still lives. He still walks among us. And I believe that when the the world needs him the most, the Avatar will return.


The dull silence of the night bore downwards, moving on wards with it's frivolous attempts at casting an image of peace and calm . Nothing moved, for it was an unusually quelled night tonight.

Nothing made a sound, except for the occasional rustling of dried leaves or the lone sound of a cat deer mewling from the mountains. The small town looked like it had just been run over by the great spirits of old, with broken buildings, roads cracked open.

Now, the lone village hospital lay in splinters, demolished from the resulting force of two spiritual entities clashing. Fire and smoke trailed from areas of the derelict building as fire benders worked to reduce the flames and redirect the fumes away from the nostrils of the two children, the only two survivors in the whole building, that lay , still alive.

Water benders rushed in, once their paths had been cleared so as to tend to the two children, who had just been orphaned. Unfortunate .

Having the Avatar born as your child came as a blessing and as a curse . Amidst all the terror and chaos, the two children and their parents had not been able to escape the building and the parents had been slaughtered in the concussive force of the two spirits battling each other .

In all this ensuing chaos, a lone man stood, just a ways away, watching on.

His wispy, chest length white beard billowed in the occasional gusts of wind as his amber eyes peered solemnly at the scene. He could help out, of course. But that would alert the enemy, who he feared was still at large, of his presence. And that would be detrimental to the Avatar's safety. These were dark times indeed.

His long,silky, crimson fire sage robes danced left and right under the clear moonlight , imitating the movements of his long hair that fell to his waist level.

Fire Sage Gao had lived long enough to have seen two generations of Avatars come and go and he had also lived through many eras of terror and tragedy. This just added to his list.

"No sign of him. ", a man muttered as he lowered himself back onto the ground via flame thrusters working from his fists and his heels. Turning to his left, Gao nodded at his Fire bender of a companion.

"And I have reports coming in from other white lotus centers that the Rakshasans all around the world are either running into hiding now that their master has fallen, or they are giving themselves up... D'you think he's really gone?", the man asked.

The other man, the newcomer, was rather young, when compared to the appearance of fire sage Gao. But he was old enough and had seen a lot in his own defense . He had his greying , shoulder length hair tied into a tight topknot atop his head and he also sported a greying beard, though not as long and prominent as Gao's.

His choice of attire was also a lot more functional and modern when compared to Gao's clothing. The man sported a blood red sleeveless robe that hugged tightly around his waist area before hanging just around his knees. He wore figure hugging jet black pants that were inserted into leather boots that rose upto his knees.

His lined and angular face bore the markings of having been through a lot and he had definitely seen a lot. The most eye catching facial feature about him was his rather peculiar eyebrows, which looked sort of like they had been eloquently drawn onto his wrinkled face.

His arms were exposed for everyone to see and his left hand bore a distinct purple scar that ran from the tip of his fingertips all the way to just above his elbow region.

Mako had changed a lot since his younger days and yet, he hadn't changed at all.

That scar had never faded away, even after all this time.

"Raksh was a spirit manifestation entity and spirits can only be destroyed in the mortal world . Avatar Korra made a mistake in battling the dark spirit in it's own realm, where it is at it's most powerful. So no. I believe he will return. And when he does, the new Avatar must be ready to face the inevitable. ", Gao whispered.

"However, Raksh left itself vulnerable here, in the mortal world when it confronted the infant whereupon the avatar spirit manifested and managed to keep the dark spirit at bay.", Gao continued.

Mako bore a grim expression and followed the fire sage's gaze, into the flames being doused .

"Such a horrible thing to happen to them. ', Gao muttered incoherently.

Mako couldn't agree more.

But perhaps this had a more deeper effect on him due to the fact that he had lost someone he loved dearly, someone who inspired him and someone who was one of his closest friends. He still had not recovered from Korra's apparent death, even though it had been over twenty four hours ago now.

He still found it hard to swallow the fact that she really was gone. He wondered how Asami and the rest of the others were taking the news.

And then Raksh wiped out an entire population of earth nation newborns and he did it less than an hour after his battle with Korra. He slaughtered all of them. All to delay the avatar.

Cruel. Psychotic. Shocking.

It made him even more mad that the United Nation's forces were doing nothing about it besides protecting their own citizens.

And now Raksh had somehow entered the Fire nation even under all this protection that had been put up, only marginally late to kill the women who had been bearing the boy.

He thought it a miracle that the Avatar had survived , though he didn't know how.

"We need to take the children away from here. Take them to a safe place where they can be protected all the time. Until he is ready, the boy must never who he is. No one must ever know that the Avatar survived even the Lotus, to be safe.", Gao muttered with a serious tone, exchanging a look with Mako as the latter nodded.

" But d'you have a place in mind?", Mako inquired, curious himself.

A twinkling glint flashed through Gao's ambers as a small smile crept up his face.

"You could say that I do.", he chuckled as his thoughts traveled to the conversation he had had with the newly crowned Fire Lord Zuroh of the Fire nation. The son of Lord Iroh had gratefully agreed to take in the Orphaned Avatar and his sister to keep them safe from harm until he was ready.

Just then, from inside, the faint wail of a young newborn baby could be heard.


SIXTEEN YEARS LATER

The warm sun bathed the cemented streets in it's glorious warmth , with people basking in it's warmth, going on about their daily chores and work. Some wore traditional , silken , long-flowing robes while the younger generation strutted around in fashionable clothing.

In the past fifty-five years since Avatar Korra opened up the third spirit portal in Republic city, the world had changed profoundly.

True, the interference of the spirits and spirit wilds had hampered the technological advancements of the age, but man's ingenuity could not be stopped.

The Fire Nation capital had giants telescreens built around the walkways, illuminating the place in it's light as it ran advertisements on local company brands and promos for the upcoming birthday of the Fire Lord.

While none of the other four nations were as technologically sound as the United Republic , they had certainly moved on past the days of lighting up torches for light and using messenger hawks for delivering messages.

The newly built Varrick industries tram network whirred around the bustling city as men and women in official red attire boarded the silvery trains that ran on magnetic power, going about their daily work.

The beaten path was being trodden on today as it was every other day. Nothing was different. Everything was same, including the daily round of public disturbance the street rats of the local area brought about.

The distinct, gushing noise of active fire bending in the vicinity signaled the people to move out of the way as the local goons, the Agni Kai's were already out and about, giving chase to one of the street rats that scavenged around the area. The pitter-patter of feet grew louder and louder, drawing nearer and nearer and soon, three figures rounded the corner of the Lord Zuko central square in the middle of capital city in the Fire nation.

Kazuhiko ducked under two men carrying a plank with considerable ease while the two stockier triads men chasing him had a bit more of a harder time maneuvering around the bystanders due to their older age .

"Stop right there, Kid! Don't make this harder for yourself!", one of them, the one with a scruffy goatee, yelled as they gave chase.

"Aww! But we're having so much fun, guys!", Kazuhiko yelled back, barely looking over his shoulder as he leaped right through the vending stall of a cabbage vendor in his early sixties , who flung his hands across his stock of cabbages in order to protect them from harm's way from the reckless boy.

After the young street rat had sprinted through his stall, the tanned skinned, weasley old man cursed under his breath and was about to turn back to his beloved cabbages when the two triad men shot fire balls at the stall, bursting it into flames immediately, clearing the way as they gave chase.

"NO! NOT MY CABBAGES!...", the man cried in despair as the triads men sprinted through, bending the fire around them.

The warmth of the sun rejuvenated Kazuhiko, warming up his muscles as he clutched onto a nearby pole to swing around acrobatically and change direction. Craning his neck to glance back, he almost yelped as he saw the triads men were gaining on him.

He swung his hands to his sides and shot out a steady jet of incinerating fire from his palms and feet , propelling him upwards from ground level and onto the rooftops of the suburban area. With a crunch, he rolled forward to reduce the impact of landing and he quickly picked himself up, sprinting across the red tiled rooftops , leaping across entire four foot wide gullies down below, almost three floors down, to be exact.

As he landed on another rooftop, a door swung open and a lady in her mid twenties, in her bathrobes walked out. She turned and caught sight of the young fire bender and the two gang members sprinting towards her. Immediately she let out a terrified shriek and rushed back in, closing the door behind her.

"Sorry lady!", Kazu called out as he sprinted past.

"You're dead, Kid!", the bulkier triads men threatened, hurling a fire ball at Kazu's feet which the sixteen year old managed to dodge in the nick of time.

He halted at the edge of a rooftop and glanced down. Teetering on the edge, he spun around on his heel, giving both of them a a mischievous grin.

"Really? Cause I feel so alive right now! ", he taunted before dropping off the ledge with a mock salute and a cheeky grin.

The men gasped and rushed forward just in time to see the sixteen year old boy soften his landing in time by shooting out fire propellers from his feet moments before he hit the paved roadway.

"See ya later, Fellas!", Kazu smirked before sprinting away.

The men leapt over the ledge and propelled themselves forward through their ow fire streams to try and catch up with the agile boy.

"We got you now, Kid!", one of them called out, seeing Kazu turn around a corner.

"Do you really?", he called out cheekily and before the men knew what was happening, Kazuhiko had disappeared into the busy pedestrian streets of Raginiko avenue among a bunch of high school children, making it impossible for the two gang member to identify the boy.

"AAARRGH!", the bulkier man roared in anger, flames escaping his nostrils as they knew they had lost the boy with their supplies. This action of his earned him a few scrutinizing glances from passing bystanders.

"I'll have you one day, street rat!", he called out to no one in particular as the young fire bender they were chasing chortled with gleeful laughter, slipping away into the crowd.


Kazu slowed down his pace , chuckling and panting simultaneously at his eventful morning. He crossed the crowded streets trudging along to his usual spot near black ridge bay, underneath the bustling populance of the food market upstreet. He swept his jet black hair out of his face, letting his skin glisten in the morning sun as he let out a small breath to slow down his heart rate, for his heart was thumping resoundly in his chest due to the cardiovascular activity of running around Capital city.

With a grin on his face, the sixteen year old sat down cross legged on a flight of stone stairs carved out of the roadway, leading to an abandoned opera house and unzipped the black leather satchel he had snatched from the Agni kais. He knew his sister would tell him off for stealing but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Reassuring himself with that thought, he sighed and opened up the satchel and emptied the contents out in front of him.

There were two or three tattered sea fare log books, five finance folders, a pair of metal bracelets imported (probably illegally )from Zaofu,a dagger with the Agni Kai insignia engraved on it's hilt, and finally, as his stomach let out a hungry growl, a tasty looking bag of crispy lentil chips and sweet bread fell out onto his lap. It wasn't the ideal breakfast but it'll have to do. It beat having to trouble his sister for food anyway.

He stuffed the other contents back into the satchel and placed it down next to him. With a hungry look in his eyes, Kazuhiko clapped his hands together ,rubbing them in excitement before snatching up the bag of chips and was about to rip it open when he heard a distressed groan coming from across the street.

Looking around for the source of the noise, he let out a quiet sigh when he caught sight of two children, peering at him, well, more so at the sandwich on his lap. There was pure hunger written on their faces.

One looked to be a six year old boy, with a scrawny figure and auburn hair, which was unusual in these parts. Probably of immigrant descent. He had an identical, button nosed, amber eyed appearance that he seemed to share with the older girl who was sitting with him. Kazu guessed that these two were siblings and they eerily reminded him of himself and his older sister.

They seemed to be living in the most dirt poor of conditions, with torn clothing that was already in pathetic conditions.

He glanced down at the very inviting snack in his hand and back at the little children and sighed as he made up his mind. He could always go back to his sister for food(even though he detested having to be a burden on her). But these children needed the bread a lot more than he did.

The girl realized what Kazu was doing and gasped, grabbing her brother and hugging the protesting boy close to her . She looked to be at least twelve, so she had to be mature to some extent.

"Hey! Hey.. Don't worry. It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt ya. ", Kazu whispered reassuringly as he knelt down next to them , in their shady spot under the seafood restaurant alleyway exit.

"Here,", Kazu continued, holding out the snack to the children. "You guys look like you need it a lot more than I do.".

Seeing what he was doing, the boy wasted no time as he snatched the bread and pack of chips out of Kazu's hand and began wolfing down on it . The sixteen year old the looked on , a little startled as the boy's older sister's face lit up in happiness.

"Thank you!", she wheezed weakly a toothy grin of gratitude plastered across her face. Kazu could tell she was suffering more than the boy, probably because she had been giving him her share of whatever food they got. Poor girl.

"Enjoy the meal.", Kazu smiled as he got up and walked away, leaving the two street urchins chomping down on bread like it was a birthday cake.


The palace yards , one of the few pieces of architecture in the city that still stayed the same as the olden days, glimmered under the mid morning sun as the rays of sunlight bounced off the blades of grass that covered the grounds.

A small family of turtle ducks quaintly swam in the little pond nearby as the royal guards ran regular patrols over the yards, marching in pairs , wearing their shiny silvery helmets and their crimson red uniforms and metal sheathing over their chests.

Two girls sat under the shade of the giant cedar-oak tree in the yard, engaged in a game of Pai-sho.

"Hmmm.. Clever move...", Mariko mumbled with her hand on her chin, her brows furrowed in deep thought as she sat across a pai-sho board , caught in the middle of a game.

The Twenty year old young woman shared looks that were strikingly similar with her younger brother, from her jet black hair, to her amber golden eyes and her very lean figure.

Mariko worked in the fire nation Royal Palace as the personal assistant to the fire nation's younger fire princess Maya, though the princess herself considered Mariko as more of a friend than anything else as she had been Maya's playmate during their childhood days when the orphaned siblings had been brought to the palace by some mysterious benefactor.

Mariko had her straight hair tied up into a tight top knot on her head and her bangs fell sideways across her face, from the left to the right, with one eyebrow hidden from view behind the strands of black hair. Her long nose buttoned out at the tip, as did Kazu's own and they shared the habit of biting their lower lip whenever they were deep in thought.

Mariko wrinkled her slightly freckled cheeks as she tried to work out a move to counter that of the Princess's .

The fire nation staff's crimson, button down shirt and skirt were wrapped around her body, and if she was being honest with herself, she rather liked the uniform, because it gave her a sense of official entitlement to something, as in contrast to her brother, who despised the thought of uniforms or anything close to it.

Mariko caught her breath and extended a hand out to shift one tile on the pai-sho board before shaking her head and returning to her earlier position.

"You know, I think my pet sloth-bear moves faster than you do, Mari..", Fire princess Maya chuckled.

Both girls were sat on a bronze table and bench, located in the middle of the granite floored courtyard, towards the eastern entrance of the fire palace.

Princess Maya was a rather quirky looking young princess and did not possess any of the ego that one would assume someone in her position to have. She was rather friendly with the royal staff and was a favorite among children of the local orphanages whenever she accompanied her father, Fire Lord Zuroh on charitable events.

The princess was slightly shorter than Mariko and her jet black hair and bright amber eyes were a distinct feature of her bloodline which could be traced all the way back to Fire Lord Zuko.

Her facial features were slightly more angular than that of her friend's and her bright red lips were the most eyecatching feature of Maya's face. She had her hair tied into a single tight braid that fell across her left shoulder, with bangs pulled upward , exposing her forehead to the fullest.

She was a sight for many of the sons of the lords and ministers but the naive nineteen year old princess was oblivious to the attention she attracted.

Maya groaned and stretched out her hands impatiently as the crimson royal robes draped backwards off her arms.

Mariko smirked and put her finger up to her lips. "Pai-sho is a game out strategy, patience and chance. One must know their opponent good enough if they are to win. ", she said with an attempt at a very ancient sounding and wise voice.

"Where'd you learn all that mumbo jumbo?", Maya chortled incredulously .

"Let's just say I've been spending a lot of time reading books by Sage Rajhan for some time. ", Mariko said, with an incredulous look on her face.

"Yeah. You spend time with that old spider monkey instead of me, the one girl who's been with you through thick and thin. ", Maya chided, forcing an exaggerated betrayed expression.

"Maya. You know I love you, but he's my fire bending master. There's a difference. ", Mariko remarked, pouting at the fire princess.

"Yeah. Difference being that you'd rather spend your free time seating it out in front of an old man than goofing around with me.", Maya muttered.

"Princess. We can't be goofing around like we used to . What will your possible suitors think if they see your...activities?", Mariko interjected.

"Right. it's not like I care about any suitors anyway.", Maya mumbled with a chuckle.

Just then, both of them heard a scuffle from the palace gates and spun around to see what was happening. Both girls caught sight of the familiar figure of Mariko's younger brother arguing with a palace guard. He had a satchel slung over his shoulder and Mariko instantly knew he did not own this particular couldn't believe it. He was stealing again?

"Excuse me. ", She whispered to her friend before hauling herself up to walk towards her brother.

Kazu raised his eyebrows slightly with a half grin as he spotted his big sister marching towards him with a glare, no doubt going to ask him about the satchel that hung around his neck.

"So.. what's up?", he asked nonchalantly.

"Where did you get that bag?", his sister huffed, going straight to the point.

Kazu pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. Ever since the two of them had been orphaned by some freak accident sixteen years ago, Mariko had assumed the role of his mother, from caring for him as a baby(though she was only four years elder than him), to working in the palace to support the both of them .

"Relax!", Kazu groaned, cracking his knuckled with the palm of his other hand .

"This thing belonged to some Agni Kais that I happened to come across today morning. Don't worry. I'll give it back to them with a sorry note first thing after breakfast. ", Kazu joked , striding forward as his sister followed him, not letting the sixteen year old out of her sight.

"Food? I thought you were ..how did you put it?...your own man? You didn't need my help anymore? ", Mariko chided with a chuckle.

Her brother didn't like depending on her for his survival and he rarely asked her for any help, though she would be happy to oblige. When he did ask for help, it was something rather desperate.

"Sheesh. If ya don't want me to eat just say the word and I'll be out of your hair!", Kazu groaned as he spun on his heel to march back out. Mariko caught a hold of his shoulder and stopped at him, she let out a sigh.

"Go on to my dorm. I think I've got some spare bread loaves and some leechi juice. But make sure you clean yourself up afterwards. ", Mariko reminded him as he waved a hand at her.

" Yeah. Yeah. I got it. Now get back to whatever gossiping you were doing . ", he grumbled before he turned and walked off their dormitory.


Kazu headed down the corridor through the servant's quarters towards the familiar door of their dorm. Well, mainly his sister's dorm. He pushed the silvery painted door open and headed inside to the room where the rays of sun managed to peek in through the curtains drawn over the windows.

As he dropped the bag on the floor and walked in, he caught a glimpse of their room. Mariko's bed was neatly made and all her belongings were placed in order. His own bed , on the other hand, lay crumpled with sheets thrown around just like he had left it over four night ago, when he had a quarrel with his sister about something silly and had stormed out the dorm.

Making his way to the tiny kitchen in the dorm, he pulled open the refridgerator and picked up the bottle of greenish juice sitting on the top tier in a plastic bottle. Then he picked up the loaf of bred lying on the kitchen slab, grabbed a wad of Corn cheese and headed towards the tiny dining table , which was only separated from the tiny kitchen area by a single bluish wall.

He sat down on the chair, and placed the food items on the rickety wooden table, rubbing his hands hungrily.

"Hmm...Let's see..Loaves of bread? Check. Leechi Juice? Check. And extra sweets that she might get mad at if she found out that I ate em? check. Alrighty then. Let's dig in!", Kazu said rather enthusiastically , wolfing down the bread loaves in his hunger.

/

After his breakfast, for which his stomach thanked him for, he grabbed the sweets from the table and switched off the lights, simultaneously extinguishing the single torch in the corridor outside as he headed out, walking back to the palace yards to find his sister standing up with a stoic pose, along with Princess Maya, deep in some sort of serious conversation with Minister Zhang, one of the Fire Lord's ministers.

It was a rather concerned expression on his sister's face that greeted him when he flashed her a toothy grin. Seeing the minister run his eyes down and up , as if sizing Kazu up, Kazu threw his hands up into the air like a criminal caught red handed.

"I didn't do anything!", he immediately squirmed.

"Then you have no reason to take fright. The fire lord wishes you go to his study. Fire Sage Gao is in our presence and has some matter in regards to you. So I pray you do not do anything reckless in front of the fire is an esteemed guest and an old acquaintance with not just Fire Lord Zuroh, but only Lord Iroh before him. ", Minister Zhang said in an unfocused voice.

"Who's Fire Sage Gao? And why does the Fire Lord want to see me of all people?", Kazu squeaked, alarmed.

Zhang let out a distressed sigh. "That I do not know. The Fire Lord did not inform me. Make not keep him waiting. It is disrespectful. ", Zhang said, shooing him off.

"Just go and see what my father wants. It's just his title that is intimidating. He's usually a reasonable man,unless you touch his favorite battle sword. That's the giant sword made of kilowog ivory on his right hand wall. You'll know it when you see it. ", Maya joked before quieting down under a glare from the minister, who considered Maya's sister, crown Princess Ursa to be the more mature of the two.

Giving his sister one last reproachful look, Kazuhiko slid the satchel off his shoulder and handed the bag to her.

Fearing the worst, he swallowed and walked down the marbles corridor towards the Fire Lord's study , an part of the ornate palace he had never visited before in his sixteen years of living there.


At the doorstep of the seven foot golden doors of the Fire lord's personal study, Kazuhiko gulped and felt his body perspire as the nervous feeling crept up his face, heating it. He closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

He had never been invited to the Fire Lord's study , he hadn't even been acknowledged by the ruler before. He must have really stepped over some line for the Fire Lord to personally have a chat with him.

He stepped forth and knocked on the marble door knob three times. The voice of the Fire Lord spoke through the wooden seven feet tall oaken doors.

"Come in. ".

Turning the brass knob, the sixteen year old walked in , only to have himself blinded by the brightness of the light emanating from within the spacious room.

Silky cloth lined the walls as decoration, bearing the Fire nation Insignia on it. To the left, were what appeared to be statues of the fire god Agni, surrounded by a wall of flames. Flaming hydrangeas lined up the four tables that sat in the corners of the , everything in the room had some sort of relation with the element of fire. It was the Fire Lord's study. What was one supposed to expect?

The fresh scent of burning cinder wafted through the air as Kazu looked up at the mural which depicted events from the battle that ended the hundred year war. His eyes grew wide in wonder.

This room was obviously nowhere near as large as the royal throne room, which Kazu had seen after sneaking into back when he was eleven, but this room was a lot larger than the average common room,if one could compare them.

He heard the faint clearing of a throat and he looked ahead to meet eyes with the source of the noise.

Fire Lord Zuroh sat behind the seven foot long firewood table which had papers and documents stacked up in three to four piles.

The Fire lord's long black tresses with greying patches in them was tied back into a tight top knot atop his head and his grey matted beard was tied into a single braid at the tip with a rather elaborately constructed ring.

He eyed Kazu with his piercing ambers as he laid his golden framed reading glasses down as he stood up, wrapped in the armored royal robes and chest plate , in all his fire nation glory.

Kazu immediately clapped his fist with the palm of his hand out in front of his chest and he bowed respectfully with a rigid back. The Fire Lord nodded in acknolwedgement.

"Nice morning isn't it?", Zuroh remarked suddenly, shifting through his papers, catching Kazuhiko by surprise.

Without any further provocation, all of Kazu's resolve to lie to the fire lord crumbled around him and he buckled humorously.

"I'm so sorry, Lord .. For any disturbance I may have caused you. I swear, I didn't mean anything . Please don't take this out on my sister. She had nothing to do with me or Agni kais!", Kazu blurted out, imploring to the Fire Lord.

For a moment, the middle aged Fire Lord blinked, confused as to what the young fire bender was yammering about. Then he raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"Agni Kais? What're you talking about? ", Zuroh scoffed, stroking his beard simultaneously.

Kazu blinked twice. Then it hit him. The Fire Lord didn't know any thing about the agni kais and that was not why he had been called up here.

"Uhm..Nothing, your highness.",Kazu mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

It was not often that he was face to face with the fire lord, despite living in the palace grounds all his life since his sister was a staff at the palace. He made it a point to act just like his sister had taught him all those years ago.

He was quite surprised when he heard a light chuckle from the Fire Lord.

"What I have summoned you here for is an entirely different reason. ", Zuroh said, beaming slightly. Kazu stood, confused, scratching his head.

Then, all of a sudden, a raspy, weak sounding voice spoke up from behind him ,making him let out a small shriek as he jumped and stepped back.

"Good morning, young one. ", it said.

The voice belonged to a very ancient looking man , his bones almost sticking out through his skin and wispy strands of his beard ran to his belt buckle. He wore a long flowing crimson robe that fitted loosely around his body and a matching hat that was rather sturdy looking and stood up way past his head, shaped distinctly in the fire nation insignia.

Behind him, in the shadows was another man, who seemed to bear a slightly more disapproving look on his face for some reason.

The man's greying hair was tied back into a tight ponytail and his pointy white beard flowed to the middle of the torso. He wore similar loose fitting robes with a bit more embroidery to it and also he wore a more modern suit underneath this long robe. He seemed to be at least twenty years older than the Fire Lord himself.

Then, there were a few more, at least four more similarly older people, one woman and three men, standing side by side behind the desk. They wore a navy blue sort of uniform that flowed around their bodies, with a white chest dressing that fastened around their neck and fell around their shoulders.

Kazu had not idea who these people were or what they wanted.

Kazuhiko bowed to all of them anyway. Better safe than sorry. And he had no idea what they had to do with him.

It was then that he noticed that the older man carried a medium sized wooden chest with a bronze lock on it. This perked up his curiosity as he wondered what it could possibly be.

"Greetings, young man. I am Fire Sage Gao. I come from the fire temple for the northern provinces. ", the ancient looking man in the crimson robes wheezed .

He then turned to the man accompanying him. "And this is-", he began before the very unpleasant looking man scowled and held up his hand.

It was then that Kazu's eyes caught sight of a long age old scar on his left arm, running from his fingertips to his elbow, and the scar discolored his arm, giving it an apparently permanent pinkish hue.

"He can know who I am when it is done. ", he gruffed. Kazu had the immediate impression that this seventy something looking man, whoever he was, was rather serious and grumpy, for whatever reason.

The Fire sage chuckled and turned to Kazu to see the boy bow respectfully to him. It was not everyday that Kazu met a fire sage.

"We do not require much of your time. We know what an important man you must be, young one. ", the fire sage whispered with a twinkle in his eyes that appeared to pierce into Kazu's soul, as if it were seeing his darkest secrets.

Kazu chuckled awkwardly, not sure what the man meant, rubbing the back of his head.

Without another word, the fire sage sat down on the ground right in front of Kazu, prompting Kazu to almost leap back in awkwardness . What was he doing?

Luckily, all he did was set the chest he had carried on the ground in front of him, unlock it, and turn it around so that the catch of the chest faced Kazu.

"Please take a seat.".

Kazu gulped slowly and sat down, nervously perspiring as his head was trying to vigorously figure out what was going on. He was in a room with the Fire Lord and some older people dressed in funny clothing and they wanted him to open some mystical old chest?

No sooner when Kazu had sat down, the fire sage twirled his hands around in a clockwise motion out in front of him, creating a steady ring of flame that amazed Kazu. He had never known one could fire bend like that. Kazu had always thought fire bending involved agility and raw man made the flames dance for him.

The fire sage then murmured some incantations that Kazu could not pick up on before he slowly drew his breath in, encasing the swirling ring of fire within his hands before he blew into it again, blowing black smoke out of the other end of his clasped hands and it engulfed Kazu, forcing him to cough and wave his hand to clear the smoke from the vicinity of his nostrils.

The other man who came with the fire sage gave Kazu a disapproving look as the teenager coughed before turning away.

"Pick whatever object you find appeals to you. ", the fire sage's voice wheezed, bringing Kazu out from the depths of his inner thoughts.

Kazu nodded solemnly and proceeded to drop his gaze to the chest lying open in front of him.

The box contained various strange items indeed.

There were many artifacts and scrolls dating back over two hundred years, from the looks of it. There were a few metal bending scrolls from the Biefong clan. He recognized their family crest.

Then there was an air bison whistle. Kazu had always wanted an air bison but only his sister ever knew about his secret desire for one. It was common knowledge that only an air bender could train an air bison, which was a bummer really.

He scratched his shoulder and took in a large intake of breath to get his restless mind to focus.

As his eyes ran over the contents yet again, something caught his eye.

This thing held no value to him and he knew he couldn't use it for games or anything.

It was a navy blue water tribe betrothal necklace with distinct moon designs etched into the whitish circular wooden centerpiece. He didn't know why but it felt really familiar to him, but he was getting a bit freaked out, since he knew he had never seen the thing before in his odd sense gripped him,beckoning him forward.

Whatever the sensation of familiarity was, his hand was prompted and before he could hold himself back, he reached out and grabbed the betrothal necklace from the other objects, feeling slightly awkward since he knew the others were watching him and would probably think of him stupidly .

Expecting raised eyebrows, he looked up but was surprised to see the wide eyed expressions all the people in the room,except for the old fire sage, his grey haired moody companion and the fire lord.

"Wha...what happened?", Kazu mumbled, scratching his head. The fire sage chuckled as he reached over and picked up the betrothal necklace.

"Why did you pick this item?", the sage asked. Kazu let out an awkward chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeeeahh..heh-heh...I'm not so sure about that one. I just felt like it belonged to me...except...I know that I've never seen It before. It's...really hard to explain. ". The sage offered him a warm smile.

"This betrothal necklace once belonged to Avatar Korra . This is one of the few relics only the Avatar would have recognized from their past lives. ", the sage said abruptly, confusing Kazu to the point where he had to scratch his head wildly, not following what the sage was saying.

"I'm sorry.. Where are you going with this?", he asked apprehensively.

To his shock and confusion, the sage set the necklace back into the box and touched the palm of his hand with the fist of his other hand, bowing deeply to the sixteen year old boy, who was beyond confused right now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the men and woman who had come with the Fire Sage copy his movement. What really threw him off balance was when the Fire Lord did the same action. What was happening?

As if to answer him, one of the men dressed in the blue robes spoke up, still in his bowing position.

"We are the white lotus. And It will be an honor to serve you... Avatar Kazuhiko. ".

Kazu let out a small shriek and he jumped up to his feet, with a shocked look written all over his face.

"W-what?", Kazu breathed, fearing the answer.

"You...Are the new Avatar", the sage replied again, this time meeting eyes with the young fire bender.

Now there was no denying what he had heard. No one was pulling his leg. If a fire sage said this, there was no other way to deny it.

"We will be leaving first thing tomorrow morning to the air temples to begin your airbending training. You may need to pack, but you will not need any worldly possessions.", another of the white lotus added with a smile, clearly having no clue of the turmoil of emotions going through Kazu's brain.

His chest rising and falling rapidly as his mind fogged up, the sixteen year old back pedaled and flung the door open to run outside.

No sooner had he opened it, he saw his sister and princess Maya standing outside the door, with their hands covering their mouths with a look of total shock on their faces. They were spying in on what was happening behind the closed doors . Before his sister could say anything, Kazuhiko shoved past her, marching out and down the hallway, out of sight.

"Was it something we said?", the white lotus member inquired, confused about this reaction.

"Give him time.", Sage Gao said calmly.

He knew how it would feel like. Being the avatar would mean that more likely than not , the boy's teenage years would be taken away since he would need to be prepared for the inevitable.


The cold evening winds sent a tickling sensation down his spine as he sat up on the rooftop of one of the shopping complexes, five blocks down from the fire nation palace. The blood red skies that lit up due to the setting sun cast an ominous shade over Kazuhiko's foreseeable future.

It had been five hours now since he had spoken to anyone, besides a local merchant from whom he bought his lunch. It had been five hours since the fire sage told him about who he was. And it was frightening.

'You are the new Avatar' , the voice echoed round in his head as the cold winter solstice winds blew his long bangs of his fore head. He clenched his jaw and hugged his torso to his knees, resting his chin on his knees, scouring the area up ahead gloomily with furrowed brows.

He didn't know what to say or think.

If they were pulling a joke on him, this was a bad way to do it.

You don't just abruptly come into someone's life and announce that they are someone as important as the Avatar. Sure he liked helping people, but that was it. He never wanted to go around sacrificing his life, helping people who would be less thankful . He wanted to live his life freely.

Then, the memory of the delighted looks on the young childrens' faces from earlier that day came to the forefront of his mind, slightly abating his anger. He did like helping people, whether as an avatar or not.

"So...what've you been upto?", a familiar female voice perked up, right behind him, almost scaring him to the point of him losing his balance and falling off the edge of the rooftop, where he was sitting.

Catching himself, he turned around to see the figure of his elder sister standing just three feet away from him, her arms crossed .

"Oh...nothing...just...just contemplating my place in the world...", Kazu remarked sarcastically, returning to his moody expression.

"Nice view, isn't it?", Mariko remarked, sitting down on the ledge next to him. Kazu grunted to show that he acknowledged her.

Both of them sat around for a few prolonged minutes in silence as the awkwardness crept in.

"So you wanna watch a pro bending match tonight? We can go to the local pub . I hear today's the big semi final. ", Mariko said with a hopeful smile, trying to cheer up her brother.

She knew how much he had tried to sneak in but was caught and kicked out every time by the owner since he was underage to enter such establishments. In the fire nation, the legal adult age was nineteen.

"Really?", Kazu mumbled, his face lighting up at the possibility . Mariko chuckled and nodded.

She then watched as his eyes suddenly froze , before his smile gradually fell and transformed into a frown.

"Thanks...but.. I can't...I'm not supposed to have any worldly possessions, remember?", he mumbled scornfully.

"Why not ? I mean, I thought you've always wanted to-", Mariko began hopefully, before Kazu cut across her with an impatient look.

"Stop acting like everything's normal. You get to be normal! Well? Guess what?! Nothing will be normal ever again!", Kazu burst out, shooting a glare at his sister, who looked at her distressed brother with a wide eyed shocked face.

"Hey! I get that you're in one of you teenage tantrums right now, but that doesn't give you the right to take your anger out on me!", she remarked. Kazu pursed his lips and dropped his gaze , abashed.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to . ", he mumbled.

Mariko let out a sigh and ruffled his hair.

"Meh..It's alright, lil bro. Believe me or not, I think I had quite the teenage tantrums when I was your believe me, it's harder when you don't have an older sibling to yell at.", she said, her mind drifting off to a time when she didn't have to be the responsible one , well, at least until her brother snorted.

"What do you mean you had the tantrums? You still do. ", he said, eyeing her mischievously.

She huffed and gave him an affronted glare, lightly punching him on the shoulder. "I do not! Take it back!" .

Kazu chortled as Mariko tickled him in the ribs . His sister , even though she could be a bit nagging sometimes, knew how to cheer him up. Even if he was forced to face the harsh reality that he was the Avatar.

But it didn't matter. He had already made up his mind.


The soothing luminescence of the moonlight crept across the grounds as the wind softly rustled the dry leaves of the cedar-grave tree that lined the palace compound, near the servant quarters. Nothing moved besides the vigilant guards the were doing their night rounds while a few of them, off duty, was watching he pro bending semi final on the televarrick. Security along the staff quarters were minimal either ways so it made his job easier.

A silent figure crept along in the shadows, not wanting to draw attention to himself. Kazu hid behind a pillar, edging just out around the corner of it, eyeing the lower wall , waiting for the right moment for running across the grounds and escaping the compound, which were under lock down in the paused and he waited.

He edged back and he accidentally stepped on a twig lying on the ground, which cracked under the pressure, alerting the passing guard that something was going on. Kazu bit his lip and tightened his limbs , sticking his arms close up to his body to avoid being found and he waited with baited breath.

The guard squinted his eyes and edged towards the pillar behind which he had heard the sound, drawing out a flame on his palm to light up the dark. Kazu's heart rate sped up exponentially as the footsteps of the guard drew closer and closer, to the point where it sounded like he was standing barely and inch away from the pillar.

Just then, much to Kazu's relief, an excited voice called out from the grounds.

"Hey Lee! C'mere! The Chun just scored a hattrick knockout!", one of the guards called out. The guard lost his attention and hurried off as Kazu sighed in relief.

That's right. The semi final. He really wanted to watch the match on the Televarrick. But what he was doing right now was more important to his future than watching some match which will probably replay again later on boradcast.

Kazu pursed his lips and poked his head out from behind the pillar, and when no one was in sight, he rubbed his hands and bolted for the low rising part of the compound wall.

He sprinted as silently as he could and leapt up from the ground with just a minor burst of flames from his feet as an extra booster to send him over the wall in a quick summersault.

He landed on the other side of the wall, on the paved walkways on his knees before getting up, shivering slightly in the cold winter breeze momentarily before taking off into the silent night, towards the Capital city ferry port .


"That will be forty Yuans. ", the beefy pot-bellied man standing at the ticket counter croaked.

Kazu dug his fists deep into the pockets of his pants , rummaging around for ten more Yuans. He was trying his luck by trying to buy himself a first class ticket on the millenia passenger barge but soon found out how costly the seat was. He could use fifty Yuans on food and supplies in the capital city market for a week. No wonder these snobbish ministers who visited the fire lord thought they could do anything. You could buy anything you wanted with money, from the looks of it.

Kazu bit his lips when his hands grasped at nothing but thin air in his pocket. He was going to have to hustle the counter man.

"Uhh...I...don't...have any money left...Think you could whip up a special deal for me , my man?", Kazu remarked with a toothy grin and wide eyes, hoping against hope that the man would let him in. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

"Sorry kid. But I got strict orders from up high. Da boss ain't gon be happy if he finds out I let a freeloader in. ", the husky man mumbled.

"Seriously? I can't even get in with the cargo deck?", Kazu said, pushing his luck. The man stood tall as ever, shaking his head.

"You could wait out here for the second class barge. It's only half an hour later from now. ", the man remarked .

Kazu's face drooped and his shoulder slouched as he swung his hands one eighty degrees in front of him, grabbing the twenty Yuans he had already given the man. He dragged his feet across the ground as he decided to sit in a corner and do the one thing everyone stereotyped a fire bender to do : Sulking.


Kazu groaned as he finished the last morsel of sandwiches his money could buy .He began picking some leftovers from the area in between his teeth with a toothpick, as he walked with his free hand dug into his pant pocket, strolling aimlessly through a nearby alley as he waited for the next ferry to arrive.

He passed by a quaint looking food joint , the only one still open at this hour.

Just then, Kazu heard the clear sound of the engine of a jeep rumbling and no sooner, a sturdy, future industries camo-mobile wheeled in past Kazu, almost knocking him over . The vehicle screeched to a halt in front of a small shop and four men leapt out, fists burning with flames. Two of them shot fire balls at the door, stomping it open as they ran in, ransacking the place.

A middle aged woman wearing dirty rags, the owner of the small shop, and her son , a ten year old by the looks of it, huddled in a corner as the bandits broke open the shelves and the money counter.

The thug crabbed a small wad of cash from the cash register and glared at the woman.

"Please! That is all we have! We have nothing else left! ", the woman cried , trying to implore to the crude men.

Behind the man, one of his partners, shot a fire ball at a wooden floorboard and the thing burst open, exposing bags of coins and valuables.

The man chuckled as he grabbed the sacks and slung them over his shoulder.

"Now you have nothing left.", the man leered and turned to leave the small shop .

Just then, a flaming torrent shot towards the jeep, bursting it in flames.

As the flames evaporated, the men were lying on the ground, shielding their faces and looking around with disgruntled expression.

"What the-", the leader muttered as he scanned the area, trying to find the person who was stupid enough to interfere with them. Hie eyes bulged out in anger as they found the lone figure of a young boy, presumably a teenager, standing a ways off in a fire bending stance.

"Ay! What's the big idea punk?", the man called out in a raspy voice.

"Leave them alone. Pick on somebody your own size.", Kazu called out, sounding a lot braver than he had expected.

At this thought, the men exchanged snide glances.

"You mean...like you?", one of them called out, making Kazu eat his words.

His firebending may be reasonable to nick himself out of a tight spot, but these guys also packed a punch in the brawn department, an area in which Kazu severely lacked prowess in, being the skinny ,lean teenager he was.

"Oops...", he muttered, but there was no going back now. The men were already bounding forward , shooting fiery blasts at him in the darkness of the night. Thank Agni this was a deserted district, otherwise, Kazu would have been hauled in for the fourth time that month for a notice of public nuisance.

Without much of an option, Kazu spun on his heel in a complete one-hundred-eighty degree turn and shot a swirling fire ball at the men with enough force to separate them.

All of a sudden, he felt a warm breeze enter his vicinity and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a burning ball of yellow encroaching his face. With a grunt, he narrowly managed to evade the flames, ducking sideways and looked up to see a another bender, not much older than he was, standing with fumes of smoke emanating from his fists.

Without a second of thought, the sixteen year old punched out a torrent of hot flames at his attacker, meeting the guy squarely in his chest, blasting him over ten feet away.

"ARGHH!", he heard a coarse voice roar from behind him and he spun around just in time to spot a flaming fire ball being hurled at him by two out of five men.

With just enough time to spare, Kazu breathed in and spread his palms out wide, swirling the flame ball under his control in a millisecond before redirecting it back at the two men, striking them head on .

Kazu was never any good at firebending, according to their teacher at the palace , who considered Mariko's firebending much more potent. But Kazu could defend himself. And that was all he needed.

Kazu panted and roared in exhilaration as he leapt up, shooting a downpour of minute fire balls at the men, forcing them to cower or risk getting hit.

In a moment when the sixteen year old paused to take a breath, the burly gang leader roared and formed a seven foot tall wall of flames that edged towards Kazu, forcing him throw his arms out to try and control the wall. This guy had to be the strongest firebender Kazu had met so far from the group .

Lost in his thoughts, Kazu failed to notice one of the man creep up behind him and before he knew what was happening, the man shot out a powerful fire blast that made full contact with Kazu's spinal area, shooting the sixteen year old forward as he rolled around, panting, clutching his back in pain.

"You shouldn't have butted in other people's business, kid. ", the gang leader taunted as the remaining men walked up, encircling the boy lying on the ground.

Kazu felt a very rough palm enclose around his biceps as they hauled him up, to beat him up. On instinct, Kazuhiko leaned back forcing the man holding him onto his backfoot to maintain balance before he kicked both legs out in front of him, hoping to send a fire blast at the captors. But what he saw shocked him to his bone.

Instead of a ball of flames being shot out, the men felt a rumble in the ground beneath them and before anyone knew what was happening, the ground right next to where Kazu's feet had been cracked open and a jagged circular disk of rock and earth shot out, colliding head on with two of the remaining men, knocking them unconscious on the spot.

The mother and her son who was silently watching from the window of their shop gasped in shock as did Kazu, lying on the ground from the maneuver. What in Agni's name was that?

"What the...", the gang leader, the last remaining man standing, muttered with an utterly confused look written on his face.

"Did you just...earthbend?", he croaked, just as much shocked and confused as Kazu was.

Kazu didn't answer and instead, performed an upside down roundhouse kick with his palms planted firmly on the ground. This time, thankfully, it was a whip of flames that erupted out of his heels, knocking the man out from under his feet.

Kazu only dropped his firebending stance once he was sure that the men were not getting back up. As he panted and wiped his sweat, there was only one thing on his mind. He just earthbent. He couldn't help but feel excited and exhilarated at the possibilities it entailed but it also injected a hint of fear in him. This occurrance had just canceled out any possible counter argument he would have had about being the Avatar.

He, a firebender, had just earthbent.


Every one was tense ever since Mariko rushed in with the news that her brother had run off. Scared or for some other reason, nobody knew. But all they could do was hope that the guards found the boy soon .

The only person who seemed to be relaxed at the moment was the fire sage Gao, who sipped his morning tea with a pleasant smile on his face. To be honest, the man was getting on Mariko's nerves as she paced back and forth. How could a man look so peaceful when her little brother, who didn't know any better, had run off in the night?

The only thing that was keeping her down was her regard for his position and also when Princess Maya comforted her during one of her outbursts earlier that morning when the sage came in with a smile on his face, telling everyone what a wonderful morning it was. If she didn't have Maya, she didn't know what she would have done. Probably challenge the old man to an Agni kai or something. That's what fire benders usually did. Well, that's what they were stereotyped of doing in such situation anyway.

Suddenly, she felt a hand clasp around hers and squeeze it. With a gasp, she looked up to see Maya smiling warmly at her.

"Look. I'm not his sister but I think I've known him long enough to know that he's caused a lot of trouble for the Agni once have they caught him. And they're the most notorious gang around these parts. I'm sure he's okay. ", the fire princess consoled her.

Mariko knew how lucky she was that the princess considered her a friend, even though by status, she was Maya's servant, nothing more.

Mariko opened up her mouth to thank her but she was interrupted when the seven foot tall metal doors banged open and a perspiring guard barged in, metal armor and all . He didn't say anything for a while except pant until the Fire lord cleared his throat.

"S-sir. Sorry for wasting your time. But.. the boy...He has returned. ".

As everyone(except the fire sage) stood in shocked silence, the sound of heels walking through the marble corridor made it's way into the room.

Click.

Click.

Click

Then, three people turned around the doorway and walked into the room. Two of them were royal guards, decked in their identical uniforms and they each stood on either side of the sixteen year old boy who had run away the night before.

Kazu had his head hung low, unable to meet anyone's eyes after running away from his responsibilities like that. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. And neither did anyone move or talk. No sound at all except the slow click, clock of the royal clock that hung in some corner of the room.

Finally ,deeming it awkward to just stand there with his head hung low all day, Kazu sighed and lifted his head up to meet the sight of all those eyes that zeroed in on him.

The fire lord nodded for his guards to leave. The two men bowed respectfully and exited the room. Kazu gulped as he saw his sister slowly trudge toward him, with a dazed expression.

Mariko felt her body getting heavier with every step. One . Two .Three

There, she was within five feet's length of her little brother when she paused and stared at him.

Kazu quivered as his sister's death stare bore down on him like a hack saw. When his sister stepped in within three feet of him, he took in a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak.

But the next thing he knew, he was looking left, right at the figures of the chuckling Fire Sage and his entourage who came with him.

He felt a sharp stinging sensation right on his cheek and felt the remnants of the force with which his sister had slapped him. The pain came a bit late.

"OW! What was that for?! I ran away but that-", he began complaining but he wasn't able to finish his sentence as her arms wrapped around him and pulled him into a tight, bone crunching hug.

The warmth he felt was like no other. He could just stand in the comfort all day.

But then his brain prodded his senses awake and he realized that they were in a room full of people and how bad this would be for his reputation.

Pulling away with all his might , he stepped back to give his sister a smile, though it still hurt where she had slapped him senseless. His sister returned the smile before moving in with a threatening glare and whispered to him.

"Run away like that again and I'll break your bones , got that ?". Kazu let out a shocked squeal and jumped back. Sometimes his sister was maniacal enough to be a serial killer.

He then clenched his teeth and walked over to where the fire lord, the fire sage, the representatives of the white lotus and the unknown old fire bender were standing, onlooking the scene.

Kazu bowed to all of them, showing his respect.

"I'm sorry for running away. I was scared of being ..the avatar because of the responsibility it entitles...But..I like helping people...So... I don't think I'm ready to be the...Avatar yet..But I will try... And I am ready to help people in any way I can. ", he said in a calm tone, surprising his sister, along with everyone else who always knew Kazu to be cheeky and energetic all the time.

Not mature and composed. Even the Fire lord seemed surprised. The fire sage chuckled.

"Took you long enough. So.. are you ready to begin your training?", he wheezed. Kazu grinned in a half smile.

"I'll get to learn some cool lavabending , right?", he exclaimed excitedly, giving the amused Fire Sage a toothy grin. Behind them, Mariko pursed her lips and slapped a palm to her face at her brother's immature behavior. The world was doomed if he was the Avatar.

"And..there's the stupid..", she mumbled .


And so ends the first episode of Book One. I will try and make it as close as possible to how it would've been like in the TV show. Hope you guys enjoy reading this!

As mentioned above, any suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome! Thanks for reading!

Until next time, Avatar,Yip-Yip!