Hello fellow ATLA and ALOK fans :) this is my first fic for Avatar so I hope it lives up to some people's high standards. Please review, I always want to know what people think of my writing - I have a feeling this is going to be a long story...

Miss Buch x

Brekka stared listlessly at the ground as he moved the straw broom across the dirt. His mind was empty for the time being, while he swept the ground behind his little family's house. I'm nearly finished, the thought, then I can practice. He kept on for a few more minutes, trying to move quicker as he saw the sun beginning to set far towards the west, the pinks and yellows tinging the clouds. Leaning the broom on the stone wall he raised his arms and shifted his legs further apart to lower his centre of gravity. He went through the forms slowly, making precise movements and occasionally adding his own twists as he imagined fighting an actual opponent. Brekka bent his long legs and then flipped up, rotating twice on the air and then landing on his feet, feeling the vibrations of the landing run through his body. There was only one man in the village that could fight. Brekka was an earth bender, but had never had anyone to teach him, so he had learned to fight in hand to hand combat from the man in his village. That man had learnt from some of the best (or so it was said) and would teach anyone who wanted to learn without asking for a reward. Brekka was broken out of his trance by a shout from inside the small stone house behind him. Brekka brought down his foot slowly out of a kick and exhaled. He turned his head a little to see his best friend. Mika, his shirshu, was sleeping at the other end of his back yard. Brekka had met Mika when his was barely eight. He had been running about in the outskirts of his village and had strayed too far away from the tiny houses. Mika had come out of nowhere and jumped on the poor boy. This was the first time that he had earthbent. Brekka had slammed his hand down into the ground, causing a small pillar of earth to erupt from between his legs, giving him enough space to crawl out from under the beast. The thing had rolled about for a moment and then faced the small boy, looking slightly confused. Brekka frowned, unsure of what to do. The shirshu was also unsure, lifting its head the air to sniff hesitantly. He slowly held up a hand, trying to be as cautious as possible. Its head moved towards his hand, sniffing it and then licking his skin. He moved his hand, gently stroking the slightly wet nose of the animal. As it turned out, Mika had smelt Brekka a mile away and decided he wanted more of it. The rest was history. The pair were now as thick as thieves in the nine years they had spent side by side. Grabbing the broom and running a hand through his short brown hair, Brekka made his way through the wooden back door and into the house. He propped the broom inside a small nook near the door and went into the cool living room to see three men standing in the middle, his mother just behind them.

"Mum?" he asked his mother, Jin, as she stepped out from behind the men.

"These men want to speak with you Brekka, apparently it's important" she placed a hand gently on his shoulder

"Is it about my father?" Jin shook her head. Brekka's father had left Jin as soon as he found out that she was pregnant, and they had had no contact in the past 17 years.

"Brekka" said the man in front as Jin left the room. Brekka's eyes trained the man before him. He was dressed in some fine Earth Kingdom clothes, far cry from the rough cloth tunic and trousers that he wore (and had made) himself. The bright emerald greens looked vibrant against the yellow hues that lined the edges of his shirt.

"We have reason to believe" he paused "that you are the next Avatar" Brekka's eyes widened in confusion

"What?!" he asked, taking a step back from the man

"The oldest and last lion turtle made contact with us. It told us your name"

"No! I can't be the Avatar! It must be confused or something" he took a look at the expressions on men's faces "I'm just an earth bender, and I can barely do that!" Brekka's head was starting the reel at the new information. The three men looked at each other – surely this boy must be able to bend something other than earth? Avatar Korra had some degree control over three of the four elements before she was even five years old.

"The Lion Turtle does not lie. You are the next Avatar" Oma and Shu, he felt dizzy. Brekka's hand went to his head and he stumbled over to the wooden chair in the corner of the small room. He slumped into it, holding his head low to stop himself from fainting. Jin came back in, holding a tray of jasmine tea and some small cups for the men in her living room. Her bare feet moved slowly over the rough earth as she placed the tray on the low table.

"Are you alright Brekka?" she asked, frowning in concern for her only son

"according to these men" he said, taking a shaky breath "I am the Avatar, the next one after Avatar Korra" Brekka looked up at his mother's startled face and then looked back down at the dirt floor as a wave of nausea swept over him.

"But Brekka can't bend anything other than earth" she said to the men "he has learned how to fight, in case of emergency since… well, you know – he has never had anyone to teach him they ways of bending. How did this even happen? It's odd enough that he is an earth bender - his whole family are non-benders" Brekka's head shot up, ignoring the pain

"What about my father?" Jin looked down at her sons dark green eyes

"I-I don't know. All I know is that he was a non-bender, but I can't be sure about the rest of his family" Jin thought back to all the conversations she had had with Brekka's father about his family. She frowned "I think he said his father's name was Bolin"

"The Pro-Bender?" the tallest man at the back piped up. He was wearing the dark reds and gold's of the Fire Nation

"I have no idea"

"He was one of the best Earth Benders in his time. He was good friends with Avatar Korra – they often fought together. I'm pretty sure he's still alive" Brekka grunted quietly at this.

"Madam, do you mind if we use this table?" the Earth Kingdom man said to Jin

"By all means" she said, lifting the tray of tea and returning it to the kitchen.

"Please sit here" he directed at Brekka, who did as instructed. The man pulled a pebble out of his pocket and placed it on the table in front of the 17 year old. Brekka looked at the small stone, and to his surprise he started to move so that it was eventually standing on its curved rather than flat side. He hadn't even been concentrating that hard on it. Jin returned to stand a little behind Brekka so that she was leaning her back on the wall, watching her son carefully. The man picked up the pebble and it replaced by a candle. The Fire Nation man stepped forward and simply flicked his wrist, lighting the candle with a small flame that burst from his index finger. Brekka watched the flame for a while but didn't notice for a moment that its movements and synced up with his own breathing. With every intake of air, the flame would lift and then die down when time he exhaled.

"Spirits" he said quietly. The third man, the one who had been quiet during the whole conversation moved ever so slightly. Brekka barely had time to register what the water bender was doing before his instincts kicked in. the man's had flew out of his robe drawing a small piece of water with it, immediately turning it into an ice spike headed straight for Jin. Brekka jumped up, throwing a hand in the spike's path. On contact with his skin the ice turned back into water and dropped to the floor. Jin gasped at the speed at which her son had moved - she didn't know he was capable of doing any of these things. Brekka felt like he was frozen, he hadn't moved since the icicle – which should have at least pierced his skin – had splashed onto the rough earthen floor. He slowly lowered his arm, dark green eyes watching the men for anymore movements.

"The elements are responding to you – not just one, but three of them. Brekka, you are the Avatar" Brekka ran a hand through his hair, feeling his small perfect world shatter around him.

"You will need to find a teacher first" Brekka stood up, starting to pace so that he could work through is confusion

"Ok, let me get this straight. What you have just shown is that I am the Avatar" the men nodded "and I need to learn to bend all the elements so that I can keep balance to the world, since the energy benders have risen" the men nodded again "and I need to find teachers for all four elements so that I can do this." His mother placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to" Jin said quietly to him. Brekka closed his eyes and breathed deeply, giving himself a chance to get his thoughts in order. His placed his large, slightly calloused hand on top of her slim one and looked at her pale face

"It's ok mum. If this is my fate then so be it. We all have choices to make. If I pick the wrong one then it's my own fault. My father made the wrong choice, and I'm not about to do the same" He turned back to the men in front of him

"Which element do I learn first?"

"I suggest you learn earthbending since you already know a little."

"Who should I learn from?" this time the man from the Fire Nation piped up

"Master Bolin. He learnt from the great Chief Beifong herself when he trained as part of Republic City's police force. He lives and works in Ba Sing Se. If you are ready, we can take you there now, but it will take several days on giant eel hound" Brekka fixed his eyes on the man

"I think I would prefer to make the journey alone and by foot. If you had a map I could use, that would be highly useful." The three men looked at each other for a moment seeming to confer telepathically and they nodded.

"Fine. But it is a long journey" he said, placing a map down on the table

"I will be fine."

"Alright then. Thank you for your time – I imagine we will see each other again" the three men bowed deeply to Brekka and his mother and then left. Jin went back into her bedroom, while Brekka unrolled the map and looked over the coloured land masses. His fingers traced the path from his tiny village on the outskirts of the southern Earth Kingdom towards the north easterly of the yellow land mass that represented the Earth Kingdom. A cross had been marked on the map as to the location of Ba Sing Se by one of the men. So that's where Master Bolin is. The man who might be my grandfather. That's a long way away. His train of thought was interrupted my his mother's voice

"Brekka, please could you come in here?" Brekka frowned slightly and followed his mother's path through the house. He saw that she had placed a long wooden box on the bed.

"What is it mum?" his mother sat down cross legged on the bed behind the box and motioned for him to sit opposite.

"Your grandmother, my mother" she said as she ran her fingers fondly over the wood "was one of the Kyoshi warriors." Brekka's eyebrows lifted, but he said nothing "And so was I. She taught me how to fight, as I have taught you" Jin paused as she unclasped the metal that was holding the box closed "you come from a family of people who cannot bend, that is true – but that does not mean that we never knew how to fight" she opened the box, revealing what looked like two gold sticks and a very blunt sword to Brekka. His mother stood up, lifting the metal sticks and adopting a fighting stance. With a flick of her wrists the metal spread into fans, which looked very sharp from what Brekka could see. "These are Kyoshi warrior fans. They are made of a metal that looks like gold, but is much sharper and far more deadly"

"Wow" he said in admiration as she began to move about the small room, fighting an imaginary opponent. Brekka could now see how the fans were used in the movements that his mother had taught him and immediately started to work out how he could factor them into what he had learnt from the man in the village. Jin stowed the fans away picking up the other weapon.

"This is a katana – a defensive weapon designed to block swords and elements. I don't know what it is made from but it is very strong and highly resilient" Brekka just sat back, trying to process the information being thrown at him. "I intended to give these to you when the time was right. Now that we know you are the Avatar, you have a long journey ahead of you. I want you to take these with you." Brekka stood up

"Mum, I can't take these – they belong to you"

"Brekka, you are my only child. I love you more than life itself and I am giving you these. I would have given them to you even if you weren't the Avatar. Three generations of strong and brave women have used these weapons. Now it is your turn" she held out the katana, in its scabbard, to him. He reached out a hand and ran the pads of his fingers over the engraving on the metal – nothing is impossible unless you believe to be. He took the katana from his mother and then pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Thank you" he said quietly into her long, dark hair. Jin said nothing as tears slowly dripped down her face. This was the first time she had cried since Brekka's father had left them.