Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Korra, nor do I own any of its characters, ideas, or make money from it. I simply use their ideas for wonderful stories.

First thing readers need to know is that this story is a sequel. This is the second installation of what I plan to be four. The first is called Other Avatar Book One: the Darkness Within. You don't necessarily have to read it before you read this one, but I highly recommend it. The Darkness Within is a bit sloppy as I have improved my writing style since then, but there is a good amount of information in it that would help you understand this story-the prologue especially.

Just for a bit of background, this story starts during Harmonic Convergence of Season Two of the Legend of Korra. I would also advice you watch that before reading this. If you don't want to, Spoiler Alert: Korra's uncle, Unalaq, fused with a giant evil spirit and became a second Avatar, the dark Avatar. She fought him and he made her normal-she's not the Avatar anymore. I'll explain this in my chapter, but that's what happened just before this. I am saying this now because since Korra isn't a central character in the plot of this story, I don't explain in much detail.

Now, without further ado, I give you the first installation of The Other Avatar Book Two: Darkness Reborn. Read, review, enjoy, and all that good stuff!

Prologue: The Light and the Darkness

Korra sucked in a gasp of air and opened her eyes to see four figures standing over her. As she shot upright, the figures' blurred shapes became more defined. Beside her, Bolin and Mako did the same. Tenzin, Bumi, and Kya looked down on them. However, the fourth person she did not recognize. She had long white hair that was pulled back in an intricate—yet slightly frizzy, as though she had slept in it—knot with lots of braids and such running towards it. The woman also wore red robes and had yellow eyes—sort of like Iroh's—only there was a green ring around her irises. She was old—certainly as old as Katara, and she seemed pale, but also strong—like she was in pain but was forcing herself to stay upright.

Seeing her eyes linger on the strange woman, Tenzin gestured to her and said, "Korra, may I introduce you to Avatar Ellie?" As he said this, he took Korra's hand and helped her up.

"Avatar…" Korra trailed off, confused. "Avatar Ellie? But I thought she was…"

Not wanting to say it, she trailed off awkwardly.

"Dead?" Ellie asked with a kind smile. "I know. I should die soon—that is, twelve years before now."

Korra, too distressed to be confused, decided to roll with it. Her eyes lingered on the old woman for just a second. She never quite fully understood why there were two Avatars before, but now she had to wonder. What spirit was inside her? When did they fuse? Every story she had ever heard about her past life had always been vague when it came to the appearance of Ellie. She shook her head and looked to Tenzin.

"Did you rescue Jinora?" she asked.

"I was able to rescue her soul," Tenzin replied. "But she wasn't ready to return to her body yet. She sensed the world was in danger."

"She was right," Korra sighed, her thoughts going to why she had been knocked out. She sat heavily on a nearby rock.

"Were you able to stop your uncle, and Vaatu?" Tenzin asked.

"No," she muttered. "They fused. Then Vaatu ripped Raava right out of me and destroyed her." She looked down, hugging her arms to her body. "Vaatu won."

"I'm too young to live in eternal darkness!" Bolin exclaimed. "Korra, can't you talk to one of your past lives or something?"

"When Vaatu destroyed Raava, he severed my connection to all of the past Avatars."

"If that's true," Tenzin started, "then—"

"The cycle is broken," she said, her throat constricted as she fought back tears. "It's over. I'm the last Avatar." She finally lost her battle as tears began spilling over her eyelids and down her face. "I'm so sorry, Tenzin."

As she began sobbing, Avatar Ellie's eyes softened and she stepped forward. Kneeling before the young girl, she said, "It's all right, Korra."

"No, it's not," Korra cried.

"Light can never fully be destroyed," Ellie said softly. "Even though Raava is gone, a piece of her still lives on. Not much—but enough. Darkness won't reign forever."

"But it will for a while," Korra said softly.

"Not if you stop him." Korra's tears stopped and she looked up at the old woman. "I know Raava is gone, but you have to figure out who you are. You need to find the spirit within you."

"Weren't you listening? Raava isn't inside me anymore."

"No, I didn't mean Raava," Ellie retorted. "I meant your spirit. Raava doesn't define who you are. Let go of who you think you are."

Ellie thought back to a time when she had struggled to gain mastery over Vaatu. She had only been able to accept him as a part of her and control him after she had found her own spirit.

"Come with me," Tenzin said softly as he walked up to stand beside the kneeling form of his family's friend.

Ellie took hold of Korra's smooth hands in her own bony ones. She gently pulled the young girl to her feet and the two of them followed Tenzin—Aang's son. It had been a decade since Ellie had last seen him—in this time anyway—he looked a bit wiser and a bit grayer. Ellie supposed it came from having multiple children. Finally, they came to stop in front of the Tree of Time, the great tree that stood in between the two Spirit Portals. Ellie looked at it. She thought she caught the glance of an orange robe and white tufty hair, but then it vanished in the blink of an eye. She turned back to the other two.

"Why have you brought me to Vaatu's prison?" Korra asked.

"It isn't just Vaatu's prison," Tenzin replied. "Long before that it was used by the ancients for a different purpose. It is called—"

"The Tree of Time," Ellie breathed.

"Yes," Tenzin nodded, not seeming surprised at all that Ellie knew of it. "The legends say that its roots bind the Spirit and Physical worlds together."

"And you think this tree can help me somehow?" Korra asked.

"Yes," Tenzin affirmed. "I have read that long ago the ancients would meditate beneath this tree and connect with the great cosmic energy of the universe."

He used airbending to propel himself to the edge of the tree's hollow. Korra and Ellie followed. Within the hollow's depths, images played and swirled. Little clips ran through many different times. Korra stepped into it and the images cleared into ones of her.

"These are my memories," she breathed.

"The Tree of Time remembers all," Ellie replied.

"Korra, the most powerful thing about you is not the spirit of Raava," Tenzin continued, "but your own inner spirit. You have always been strong, unyielding, and fearless."

Before them, the image of a man appeared.

"Avatar Wan!" Korra exclaimed.

"Before he fused with Raava, Wan was just a regular person."

Ellie looked up at the man. So this was Aang's first life? She had heard about him via Spirit Scroll, which she had gotten from the Library, but had never seen him close up.

"But Wan was so good, and brave, and smart, and always wanted to defend the helpless," Korra said softly.

Everything Unalaq, the first dark Avatar, was not.

"That's right," Tenzin agreed, interrupted Ellie's thoughts. "He became a legend because of who he was, not what he was. He wasn't defined by Raava any more than you are."

Korra turned to see the image of Unalaq tearing down Aang's statue. Ellie's eyebrows drew down in anger as the young girl gasped beside her and exclaimed, "Republic City is in danger!"

"You have to help them, Korra," Ellie said.

"How?" Korra asked. "They're halfway around the world!"

"Do as the ancients once did," Tenzin replied. "Connect to the cosmic energy of the universe. Don't bend the elements, but the energy within yourself."

"You really think I can do this?" Korra asked.

"We know you can," Ellie smiled.

Korra leaned forward and wrapped Tenzin in a hug. Then, she pulled back and looked at both Tenzin and Ellie. "Thank you for not giving up on me," she smiled.

"I'm very proud of you," Tenzin replied.

With that, he and Ellie turned away and walked to the tree's edge once more as Korra sat in its heart, meditating. As they joined the others, who had gathered at the foot of the tree, they turned back to see an enormous blue spirit emerge from the Tree of Time—it was Korra. With huge strides, the spirit walked over to the portal arc and lifted a hand to a point on it about halfway up. Then, she disappeared with a flash of blue light.

With her gone, Tenzin finally addressed the elephant in the room.

"Ellie, it's good to see you."

"And it's nice to see you," Ellie smiled. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm here?" They all nodded. "I am currently seventy-two years old. I felt that my time was drawing near, so I requested to be brought here for one last adventure."

"Requested?" Kya asked curiously.

"The Time Spirit," she replied. "He is the physical embodiment of this tree. He sees all and forgets nothing. He was the one that brought me to the past—to your father's time. I asked him to bring me here before I died."

"Why?"

"Vaatu must be stopped," Ellie replied. "I know he will be defeated—otherwise, my time would have been much different."

"I'm not following," Bolin said. "Who are you?"

"I am Ellie—the Dark Avatar."

"What?" Bolin and Mako exclaimed.

"Vaatu was defeated," she explained, "but a part of him lived on, much like a part of Raava is still alive now. He drifted off into the empty void of time and, when he grew strong enough, latched onto a child—me—creating the second Dark Avatar. Now, in choosing to stay in the past I have changed time. I have decided to take it upon myself to absorb all that remains of Vaatu—with me here, he will latch onto the largest embodiment of himself—and the Dark Avatar will live on through me in this time. This will make sure that there will never be two Dark Avatars at once—something that would certainly upset the delicate balance we try to maintain."

"You're creating a paradox," Tenzin breathed.

"Yes," Ellie nodded. "Sealing my fate in this time, and giving my future self a chance."

"But the future you—" Mako said slowly. "She won't even be you anymore."

"She will be happy," Ellie retorted. "Now, we need to get going."

They turned back toward the portal only to see hundreds of dark spirits flooding towards them.

"They're coming for Korra!" Mako exclaimed, remembering that Korra's body was still inside the tree.

At the spirits' proximity, Ellie felt Vaatu well up inside her. She let a few tendrils of fire to escape from her fingers in order to relieve pent up energy. Then, as they neared enough, she willingly went into the Avatar State. Her eyes glowed orange and she lifted her hands, splaying her fingers and moving her arms in fluid motions. Water rose out of the nearby creek and swirled around the spirits in a large spiral. Purple energy slowly filtered through the water, surrounding the spirits.

"What are you doing?" Bumi shouted. "They're already dark enough!"

"I'm doing what I can!" she exclaimed.

Then, she released the water. The dark spirits all stopped and sunk towards the ground, where they all bent over.

"Are they dead?" Kya asked, concern filling her blue eyes.

"No," Ellie said bitterly. "Only assuming their rightful places as dark spirits—bowing down to me."

"I knew that Unalaq could control the spirits to some extent—" Mako mused, his eyes growing wide.

"They sensed the dark potential of his spirit and obeyed it," Ellie told them as they walked through the rows and rows of bowing spirits. "Much like they sense the sheer power of Vaatu within me. Vaatu made them like this, therefore they would never attack a part of him."

They finally walked out through the portal. Ellie shifted warily. "I can feel him tugging me," she said. "Like he wants me to join him."

"But you're not...?" Bolin exclaimed. Then, in a smaller voice he asked, "Right?"

"No," Ellie shook her head. "But I can help."

She sat down before the spirit portal and closed her eyes. Meditating on her own spirit, she then opened them again and saw that she was high in the air. Before her, Korra and Vaatu were grappling. It seemed like Korra was struggling. Ellie ran forward and separated the two of them, shoving Vaatu back.

"Who are you?" he asked, peering at Ellie's orange, glowing form.

"I'm what you'll become," Ellie said. "Take a good look. This is the person that will master you."

Then, there was a flash of light as a little ball appeared before them—inside was a tiny girl dressed in air nomad clothing—she must have been Aang's granddaughter. Then, there was a blinding flash of light. Ellie clutched her chest and fell to her knees, and Korra's eyes widened. There, in Vaatu's heart, appeared a tiny yellow ball. It wasn't much, but it was enough. Ellie realized that this was the moment Vaatu gained the ability to use all four elements—the moment Raava was at his heart, rekindled like a flame set to life.

Korra realized the same thing and rushed forward, shoving her hand into Vaatu's chest and pulling out the light spirit. Raava floated above her head as she began waterbending spirals of water around Vaatu. Ellie watched from where she sat on her knees as a white light crept up the water and through Vaatu himself. Then, as he dissolved, orange balls of light whizzed in a circular formation, and then went into Ellie. At that, there was a flash of light and, as she zoomed towards her body, the words, "Go in peace," rang in her ears.

OA

"I don't have much more time," Ellie said, looking at Zuko. "Will you tell the children and grandchildren I love them?"

"And great-grandchildren," Zuko smiled. "Ashton and Edmund. They're blonde—and wild." Ellie laughed. "I don't fully understand you, Ellie Jones, and I still don't fully understand how all of this has happened, but I'm glad it has. And I'm glad you came to say goodbye."

"We'll see each other again," Ellie replied. Then, she turned back to see the Time Spirit standing behind her. "I'm ready."

The monkey said nothing—only reached out a hand towards Ellie. She took it, and everything faded away. When her sight returned again, she saw her youngest son, Yukin, bending over her.

"Zuko?" she asked weakly, stretching out a hand towards the young man who looked so very much like her husband.

"No, Mother," the man in his upper forties said softly, taking her hand. "It's Yukin. Father is out helping the Avatar—said something about four criminals?"

"That's right," Ellie said, leaning back onto her pillows. "Will you tell them to look for him?"

"For Father?" Yukin asked.

"For the next one," Ellie shook her head. "The one after me."

"The next—the next Avatar?" Ellie nodded. "Oh, Mother, don't talk like that!"

"But I must," Ellie said insistently, shaking his hands slightly as she leaned forward. "You must take care of him—make sure he doesn't end up like I did."

"Mother, what are you talking about?"

"You'll see," Ellie whispered, leaning back against her pillows again. "You'll see…"

She felt very tired after her whole ordeal. Slowly, her eyes drifted shut.

"Mother!" Yukin exclaimed. "Mother, stay with me!"

But it was too late. Ellie had already joined Aang in the Spirit World. She had beat him by four years. That was enough for her.

Next chapter, we'll be meeting the next Dark Avatar for the first time. Review with questions if you have any, and try to guess who the next incarnation of Ellie will be. I hope that you will read on to the next chapter (once I post it), and in the mean time that you will follow my story!

~LittleMissMycroft