The world is silent. There are trees and plants but they cannot make much noise and the elements cannot take the stillness.
So the elements come together and create him as a child of their own.
When he is born, the earth shakes with his steps. Fire crawls up his throat like a mighty dragon roar, his to control. The water flows through his body, surrounds him both in and out, and he bends it like it is a part of him. The wind is at his fingertips, and he dances with it, like an overgrown child, smiling as he moves.
And he laughs, laughs with the innocence of one who has seen no pain or suffering.
The first Avatar is born.
He is lonely one day, for the few plants that exist ignore him, and the spirits are nonexistent. He decides that he will create someone like himself. Someone to stargaze with. But the elements come together only when he asks, and so he creates one bender of each.
The first earthbender is made out of the hardest rock in existence, shaped by slicing the rock to create sharp, rough edges that hid the smooth, soft center. Dependable, steady, hard-headed.
He named them Terra.
The first firebender is made by cooling lava until it is a solid substance, and it is a smooth substance with some hard edges and rough surfaces, hot and burning at it's core. Sharp, short-sighted, kind.
He named them Ignis.
The first waterbender was made by smoothing a rock with the current of a flowing river, smooth but porous; holes that could fill up with the good and evil of the world. Strong, flowing, a healer.
He named them Aqua.
The first airbender was made by smoothing a rock with the air. It took centuries, but the rock was smooth and had no sharp edges or roughness, no pores, making the most carefree. Powerful, flexible, light and bright.
He named them Aeris.
He would've stayed stayed and helped them learn their abilities, but the elements took their toll. Fire wanted to burn things to ash and destroy. Water wanted to flow over all, to flood. Air was a thief, it wanted all of the winds and oxygen to itself. Earth wanted to crush and grind back into the world. The elements inside him were screaming to be set free, so as he died, he created the bison to help the airbenders, moles for the earthbenders, dragons for the firebenders, the moon spirit for the waterbenders.
With his last breath, he wished the new world good luck.
The elements move to create new things, to watch the world flourish, and the world does flourish, becomes bright and vibrant and full of life and benders and nonbenders.
Every few years, the elements feel the shake that trembles the earth as the new Avatar appears. Whoever they are, they lack the innocence the first Avatar had held, or they do not smile and laugh, or they do not control every element with ease, and the elements miss their sweet child, with his smile and laughter. Fire grows angrier, and more benders follow the nature of fire to burn and destroy. War breaks out, the balance is shaking, and the animals that had once kept the firebenders safe are dead.
The newest Avatar appears, and the whole universe trembles at his arrival. The elements watch eagerly, watch him grow, watch the burden be placed on his shoulders, watch as he runs, and keep him safe in a circle of ice.
Not yet child. You must wait. We will keep you safe until then.
He awakes a hundred years later, confused but willing to help restore balance, and his adventure is an amusing one, full of twists and turns and moments that shake the elements to their core.
Azula fires her lightning at them, and their son is falling.
The cycle will end our child is gone we failed we failed our child we're so sorry please let him be safe.
The bless the waterbender girl a million times, and she'll have the luckiest life in existence.
When the war is over and Fire is done apologizing, they watch anxiously to see how their child will react to the suffering he has seen, has stopped.
They do not blame Fire, for they all know the pain of losing the one was theirs, and Fire could not handle it like they could, because Fire cared so much.
The world seems afraid of him, all that power in one boy, but he does not let it bother him, swims in air and dances on ice and spins in fire and skips on earth like he has seen nothing but happiness and love.
It is like a deja vu scene.
The earth shakes with his steps. Fire crawls up his throat like a mighty dragon roar, his to control. The water flows through his body, surrounds him both in and out, and he bends it like it is a part of him. The wind is at his fingertips, and he dances with it, like an overgrown child, smiling as he moves.
The boy, their child, smiles wide and bright.
And he laughs.
The first Avatar is born again.