An: Now that I've finally finished Fragments, I can start on another fic. This is not the non-existent multi-chapter I mentioned in one of the Fragments installments. This is an entirely new fic that came to me recently and that will not go away. Since I have a week before university starts and an undisclosed time before SOPA stops me from writing fanfictions I decided to get off my lazy behind and start this thing. I'm not entirely sure where it's going – I only have a vague idea in my head. All I know is that it's going to be unlike anything I've written before. It's going to push my 'If ATLA wasn't a kid's show…' muse that started in Fragments completely out in the open.

Because, no matter how epic ATLA and all its spin-offs and extras are, there's a strong part of me that continues to yell, "In real life, there are very rarely such conveniently placed rocks that make everything better in one flash." Sorry, Bryke.

Warnings: AU plot, dark themes, death, violence, OOC-ness, Zutara and what could very possibly be perceived as Aang bashing. That isn't intentional, though.

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender, its plot and its characters do not belong to me. They are property of Bryan and Mike and whomever Bryke decides to give the rights to.

I love reviews more than I can ever put into words but this one is not for stroking my ego. This one is just to bleed out something different to see if I can. I beg your forgiveness and your patience.

Prologue

Destiny illustrated as a path is mostly incorrect. Destiny is less of a road cutting through the fields of life and more a wild, untamable and ever winding river. Once you are born and are set into the current of destiny, you can never escape. You may try to fight it; try to swim upstream or cling to a rock or propel yourself into an adjacent stream. But your attempts will always be futile. No matter if it takes a moment or almost a lifetime, destiny will always sweep you back into its clutches and deliver you to the pool that is your purpose.

But, sometimes, even the all-knowing cannot fully charter the river of destiny. Sometimes a moment, a decision, an impulsive action, a coincidence happens and the river of destiny forks into two equally as large and powerful sub-streams. Sometimes destiny underestimates the power of love; how meeting another person can alter your soul and tie you together in a bond that threatens to dam its river up. Sometimes, the human soul floating in destiny's river finds a pull almost as strong as the current. Sometimes those almighty forces controlling destiny underestimate forces nothing can understand.

And then there are the times – so rare they can be counted easily – where destiny rages into a whirlpool the forces of the universe could not foresee or stop. Destiny continues to flow and will still arrive at the same pool, but the journey getting there will be altered, flawed, impure. Sometimes, the greatest of good gets it wrong. Sometimes, the universe miscalculates and the best intentions cause destruction that contradicts them beyond explanation.

Sometimes, the best intentions to save every person in the world end up destroying most of them instead.