The white sand burned under his feet as Aang searched for the perfect spot for him and Katara to set up their picnic and enjoy such a beautiful day at the beach. Above, the sky was as blue as the peaceful ocean before them. A slight breeze kept them cool from the hot afternoon sun. Looking up, Aang spotted a baby reptile-hawk circling above, exerting little energy by allowing the air to keep it afloat as it glided through the clouds – just as the monks had taught him as a child.

"I'm gonna go for a glide, be back in a minute, sweetie."

Katara just rolled her eyes and giggled realizing her boyfriend was still the same twelve-year-old she and Sokka had found in that iceberg eight years prior.

Aang popped open his glider and caught a gust of wind that propelled him up into the sky so that he could join his new friend. Like all baby animals, the reptile-hawk was very playful and the two quickly engaged in a competitive game of air-tag. They soared through the air speeding up, slowing down, ascending, descending – almost crashing on multiple occasions. Aang hadn't had this much fun in the air since…

"Whoa. I guess I lost track of the time." He looked up only to realize that the coast was nowhere in sight, he must've drifted miles away from the shore. "I better head back," He told his new friend, "before Katara worries." The hawk squawked in agreement and the two pulled a one-eighty and headed back towards the beach.

Suddenly the sky began to darken. "That's strange, it was clear just a moment ago."

BOOM! BANG! The heavens roared with and enormous clap of thunder before the sky opened up and it began saturating the earth. The rain soon became torrential, Aang could barely see in front of him as he tried with all his might to get back to the beach. The winds became more powerful with every passing minute; it was becoming increasingly difficult to maneuver through the air with his glider. He struggled to stay above the rising waves.

SCREECH! Aang looked to his right. Through the downpour he could barely make out his new friend who was also struggling against the strong winds. Suddenly, a powerful gust knocked it out of the sky and down into the water. Aang turned and began to descend towards the hawk, but he was too slow. A giant wave rose from the water and swallowed the hawk, depositing it into the belly of the ocean.

"NO!" Aang retracted his glider wings and dove head first into the crashing waves. The water was frigid and so powerful; he immediately started to lose the feeling in his limbs. Under the water was dark and silent, in complete contrast to the mayhem that rocked the surface. He squinted, trying his very best to see any trace at all of the baby reptile-hawk. Out of the corner of his eye he finally saw something; a gleam of color in the dark water. He began to feverishly swim towards the object. As he got closer to it he realized that the color he saw was not the red feather of a reptile-hawk, but the orange fibers of a robe… an airbender's robe!

Swimming faster now, he finally got himself close enough to the object to make out what he was trying to rescue; it was…a baby!? An airbender baby? What!?

Overwhelmed with confusion, he kicked his legs and spiraled towards the abandoned child. Its eyes were closed but he could feel its life energy – though it was quickly fading. With one final attempt, he tucked his limbs into his body, held it there momentarily, before kicking out with all of his power. The water helped propel him towards the baby and as he finally reached the child he noticed something strange. Around the baby's neck floated sandalwood meditation beads that looked to have been carved by a child, because they were. Aang immediately recognized them, but he couldn't believe what he was looking at. My beads, he thought, thinking back to when he crafted them for Monk Gyatso, over one hundred years ago.

Confused, he lunged towards the child; his hand was just about to grasp its tiny wrist, he stretched out his fingers, using all of his reach until he finally…WHAM! A large piece of debris smacked into him, knocking him away from the child. He worked to regain control but by the time he did the baby was gone.

Desperate for air, Aang used his tuck and explode waterbending move to thrust himself towards the surface. His head broke through the water and he gasped loudly, urging the fresh air to travel deep into his lungs. The storm seemed to be over, the black clouds drifted towards the horizon, replaced by a blood red sky. Aang crawled up onto the shore, sand sticking to his entire body, and jumped on Appa. The giant bison took him high into the sky, flying for a long time towards a faraway mountain range, until he could barely make out a silhouette against the scarlet sky.

That looks manmade, he thought as he pressed Appa to fly faster. That looks like a… an Air Temple!

The sky bison continued to pick up speed as he barreled towards the mountains, the outline of the Temple becoming clearer and clearer with each passing second. They were close now; Aang could see the intricate details of the temple: the architecture, the monuments, the people…the people?

They were everywhere. Dressed in classic airbender robes; thousands of people populated this lost temple. They were shopping, playing, meditating, training…airbending!

"Appa, I c-can't believe it! I'm not the last one, boy!" A small tear began to well in his eye. "C'mon we need to get down there! Yip, yip."

The bison groaned in agreement and began to descend upon the hidden temple.

SNIFF. "That's strange… do you smell smoke?"

Appa groaned again and started to pull away from the temple.

"Wha-!?" Aang looked up in terror as the entire Temple was ablaze. Flames began to swallow the beautiful monuments; the large stone structures came crashing down towards the people. They were helpless, running for shelter and screaming for a miracle.

Aang quickly stood up on Appa's back and began to bend the water from the clouds in the sky and push them towards the temple, but it wasn't enough. The fire continued to grow and spread throughout the temple. He closed his eyes, concentrating for just a moment – the blue arrow tattoos on his body began to glow white. Feeling the power surge through his veins, he summoned the water from the ocean hundreds of feet below. He created a small title wave in the sky and used all of his strength to push the wave towards the mountainside, dousing the entire temple in salt water.

Falling to one knee out of exhaustion, he looked up to see if he has saved what remained of his people. "No…"

The temple continued to burn. The citizens looked up to him, hovering in the sky, "You didn't save us, Avatar. You left us, Avatar Aang. You failed us, Aang. Aang. Aang. Aang." The thousands of voices meshed into one, it became distant and familiar – he couldn't get it out of his head.

"No, I didn't- I tried- No. No. NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Darkness.

Sweat beaded down his face. He was sitting up on his bed, a small flame eating the edge of the covers, but quickly put out with a splash of water. Aang looked over and saw Katara sitting on the side of the bed, tending to a small burn on her arm.

"Katara! Did I-? I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Aang, really." She reassured, "but are you?" She took his trembling hand in hers, worry in her eyes.

"I'm ok-," He watched as she tilted her head, her eyes staring into his, imploring him to tell the truth. "I had a horrible nightmare." He dropped his head as if it were too heavy for his neck to hold up.

"Like the others?"

"Worse."

He sat up against the headboard, now using his hands to hold up his head. She could tell that he wasn't ready to talk about this one. So she curled up next to him and rested her head on his chest. Her warmth was welcomed as he felt his tension quickly melt away. Several minutes passed before either of them spoke again.

"What if I can't bring them back? The Air Nation, my people…"

"Aang," Katara traced the blue arrow on his hand with her finger, "don't feel like you have to shoulder this weight on your own. That responsibility falls on both of us now." She touched her new betrothal necklace, "We will bring back the Air Nation, together. I promise." She interlocked her fingers with his and kissed his hand.

"I love you, Katara." He rested his head on hers and calmly fell back asleep.