Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA T.T

Fire. Air. Water. Earth. These are the four elements. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. But that all changed when the Firelord attacked, wiping out an entire race and beginning a war that lasted for a hundred years. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements has the power to restore peace, but even he has limits.

100 years ago

"Aang?"

The young Airbender whirled around to see his mentor and guardian. He stepped down from the windowsill where he had been standing. "Gyatso! I -uh- well..."

Aang and Gyatso stared at each other for a long moment before Aang burst into tears. "I'm sorry Gyatso! I heard you and the others talking. About how I was supposed to be sent away from you and-" he stopped, unsure of what to say next.

"You were about to run away, weren't you?"Gyatso spoke gently as he embraced his young student.

"Y-yes." Aang sobbed. Gyatso sighed.

"I know it is difficult, Aang. But this isn't the end, you know. You have a long life ahead of you, and we will see each other again. Besides, you won't be leaving for another week or two."

Aang sniffled and nodded. "Thanks Gyatso."

45 years ago

"Help!" the terrified little boy screamed as a fireball flew past his head, nearly burning his ear. All around him, the Fire Nation soldiers blasted flames at the villagers. A few were fighting back with bone weapons, but most simply fled from the onslaught.

"Tornuk!" A teenage girl wearing the customary furs of the Water Tribes stepped in front of the little boy and made a wide sweeping gesture with her hands. The ice beneath the Fire Nation soldier melted partially and he fell in up to his waist. Another sweep of her hands froze the water again, trapping the soldier inside. "Run!" The girl commanded.

"She's a waterbender! Get her!" More Fire Nation soldiers ran towards the girl, who once again melted the ice beneath their feet.

"That never gets old." She smirked. "Tornuk, you have to leave. Now!"

"But Hama-" Tornuk hesitated.

"Go!" Hama pointed and Tornuk ran as fast as he could, catching up with the other villagers fleeing. The small collection of igloos and ice buildings were now deserted, save for Hama and the Fire Nation soldiers.

Hama ducked as a fire blast superheated the air above her. Glaring at the soldier who had bent the flames at her, she turned in a circle, bringing a stream of water from the ice around her and thrust her hands towards him. The water slammed into the soldier, sending him flying into an ice brick wall with a sickening crack.

Suddenly, a fireball from behind hit Hama in the square of her back, knocking her down and scorching her clothes. She groaned and got up only to be hit with another blast from another soldier. The firebenders surrounded her now and struck her with fireballs every time she tried to get up. Hama clenched her fists in anger and pain, unwilling to reveal just how much the burns hurt.

Eventually, the firebenders stopped and Hama lay on the ice, her clothes blackened and smoking. A sergeant gestured for the men to tie her up. As soon as one of them touched Hama however, she sprang back up, blasting the soldier's face with water. The waterbender swept her hands to the sides, and large waves of water carried the soldiers away from her.

The sergeant sidestepped a wave and bent a huge blast of fire at the young woman from behind. Hama turned and acting completely on instinct, threw up her hands. Astonishingly, a slab of solid earth erupted from beneath the ice. The fire dissipated harmlessly against the permafrost. Hama stared at the earth in shock. She had just bent earth!

But the other soldiers were getting up now, and had surrounded Hama again. This time, they all sent their flames at once, and the inferno blazed over Hama, seemingly burning her into ashes. But when the fire subsided, she stood there unharmed. The Fire Nation soldiers were readying another round of fire when suddenly the Water Tribe girl's eyes began glowing white.

Hama began rising from the ice on a waterspout and looked down at the firebenders. Some of them began to flee, but a few tried to throw more fire at her. Suddenly, the entire village melted into water, and the Fire Nation soldiers struggled to stay afloat. With a gesture from Hama, the water refroze, sealing all the soldiers within the ice.

Slowly, the waterspout subsided until Hama was standing on the ground. As suddenly as it had started, her eyes stopped glowing, and she fell to the ground, exhausted.

25 years ago

Long Feng held his breath in the darkness. He strained to hear, but there was nothing but silence. Satisfied that no one else was around, the ten year old boy concentrated until a small flame grew in the palm of his hand, revealing rows of scrolls in front of him. He was in the restricted section of the Ba Sing Se University library, searching for a book on bending.

Long Feng searched through the scrolls carefully, making sure not to let the fire in his hand burn out of control. He didn't want the library going down in flames. Finally, he came across a scroll on advanced firebending. He looked carefully at the inscriptions printed upon the paper, committing them to memory. He desperately wanted to try one of the techniques right then and there, but did not want to risk being found out.

After another hour of searching, Long Feng had discovered several more scrolls on firebending, as well as one for waterbending, but nothing on airbending. He wasn't very surprised. After all, the Air Nomads had been gone for almost seventy-five years. He spent several more hours memorizing the firebending techniques, before placing them back where he had taken them from.

"Hello?" A voice called out suddenly, freezing Long Feng's blood. He quickly extinguished the fire, plunging himself into darkness. Grabbing the waterbending scroll and stuffing it into his shirt, he began climbing up the shelves until he was on top of the high wooden shelves. Below him, he could see the librarian holding a lamp and examining a scroll lying on the floor. Long Feng cursed silently, realizing that he must have knocked it loose on his way up.

The librarian looked around suspiciously, then began climbing up a nearby ladder, presumably to put the scroll back. Long Feng scrambled down the other side of the bookcase and tiptoed away from the librarian. He had been in the library for so long, sunlight was beginning to filter in through the large windows. Once he was out of the building, Long Feng sprinted back to his family's home in the Middle Ring.

The sun was nearly above the horizon when Long Feng vaulted over the wall around his backyard. He breathed a sigh of relief that his parents were still asleep and slipped into his room silently. Bending the earth beneath him, Long Feng pulled up a small wooden chest, placing the waterbending scroll inside. He replaced the chest, vowing to return the scroll once he had memorized it. After all, it would be unfortunate if someone noticed its absence.

4 years ago

"Leave me alone, Azula!" Zuko shouted at his ten year old sister, who was teasing him. Again.

"Zuzu, you should appreciate your family." Azula smirked. "Especially since Mom ran away-"

"Shut up!" Zuko lost his temper and bent a fiery blast at his sister. Azula neatly sidestepped the flames and sent a fireball of her own in return. Zuko dissipated the flames and quickly began moving in a basic firebending sequence his uncle had taught him.

Azula for her part took a more aggressive stance and immediately shot a series of firebolts at Zuko. His sequence interrupted, Zuko dodged out of the way and opened his mouth to breathe fire when Azula leapt forward and punched him in the left eye with a flaming fist.

"AAAHHHH!" Zuko screamed and fell onto his back, his face smoking. He lay there motionless.

Azula stared at her brother in shock. "Zuko?" She came closer to his body and shook him.

Zuko's right eye snapped open, revealing pure white light. Azula shrieked and fell backwards onto her rear as her brother began to float into the air, eye blazing. He opened his mouth and Azula closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable fire to consume her. It never came.

Azula opened her eyes to see her brother standing over her, his eyes their normal gold again. She noticed that the skin around his left eye was raw and blistered. Azula had a feeling it would scar, and for once actually felt bad that she had hurt Zuko.

"You okay?" Zuko's voice snapped Azula out of her thoughts.

"Y-yeah. Sorry about your face."

Zuko blinked in surprise, wincing at the pain. His sociopath sister was actually apologizing? Maybe he was still knocked out. "I'll be fine. Uncle will probably fix it or something."