No Thread in Place
I originally got this idea as the Fates or the Spirits that weave people's paths. What would happen, and what would their conversation be, if one intentionally moved Aang's thread to that iceberg and froze him for a century, but the other flipped out and undid everything, to move Aang's thread back into place. How would it affect everything? And so this was born. I actually really like it a lot! There are 19 vignettes of 19 people that would have been affected. See if you can figure out who they all are.
The boy never ran away. He stayed in his place, and was sent from his loving teacher, to the other temple, where he passed his test four years early. He traveled the world, and learned to bend water, but not move with it. He learned to call upon flames, but not that they were a form of life as much as a form of destruction. He learned to move rocks, but never to be a part of the earth, and use it as an extension of himself, or to listen and wait to what the stone could tell him. He confronted his past's best friend, and defeated him. He stopped a war that should have happened. He never ran from his duty, or was frozen in an iceberg and lost to the world for a century. He didn't meet two remarkable siblings from the Southern Water Tribe. He never returned to his home at the Southern Temple to find it in ruins, or find the corpse of his teacher. He wasn't hunted by a banished prince from the Fire nation. He didn't save the Northern Water Tribe from an invasion. He didn't fall into a swamp, and chase a vision of a girl he would meet, and love. He never asked his mad genius of a friend to teach him to earthbend, or challenge a blind champion to an earthbending match. He didn't offer a trapped little girl freedom, or become her best friend. He was never shot with lightning, and never blocked his chakras. He never failed during an invasion, and he never abandoned friends to become prisoners of war. He never found a wise lion-turtle, or learned about energybending, or spared the life of Fire Lord Ozai. And this was the result.
The Airbenders continued to roam and teach peace. But the elders that had seen fit to place the world's troubles on the shoulders of a twelve year old orphan were left in place, and the corrupt council that lead them was allowed to continue. The nomads were not wiped out, to be renewed in time as they should have been. There was no thread in place to lead them to that path.
The boy's master lived the remainder of his life in the Southern Temple. But he never made fruit pies again, or played Pai Sho. He was never given another pupil, nor did he ask for one. He died quietly, on a rainy night in the darkness of his room, instead of defending his people and what they had stood for. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The boy played with his friends. He remained a close friend of the Avatar, even after his King tried to control the world. He and the King of Omashu grew old together, and told stories of their childhood even after their third friend had passed into his next incarnation. He never destroyed the Air Temples. He was never drafted into the Fire Nation army. He didn't lose his best friend when the boy ran away, and he didn't fight his friend from the Earth Kingdom on a charred battlefield. He didn't become a soldier for the Earth Kingdom and fight against his corrupt king. And he never died defending the last of the Air Nomads. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The mad genius discovered the world's greatest super slide. He pulled practical jokes on his friends, and when he was king, on his subjects. He played riddle games, and tag with his pet Flopsy. But he never liberated his city. He didn't surrender his city, and was never captured by the Fire Princess. He never became a member of the White Lotus, and he never became great friends with the old people of the world. He didn't help liberate Ba Sing Se, and he never rode the super slide with his childhood friend when he was 113 years old. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The boy with the weak legs became an inventor, like his father. He created prosthetic legs so he could walk, and opened a hospital for others like him. But he never learned what it was like to fly. He never felt the freedom of soaring through the air, and he never had the chance to share the skies with a real airbender. He never lived in an Air Temple. His people never became known as the air walkers. His father never helped create weapons for the Fire Nation's war. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The Princess died when she was born. The koi fish continued to chase each other in an eternal circle, swimming in a small pond at the top of the world. The Moon Spirit saw the way the threads laid, ready to weave history, and saw no need. It never spared the life of the baby princess, and was never killed by a general driven mad with power. The princess never met the strong siblings from the Southern Tribe. She never sacrificed her life for her people. There was no thread in place to lead them to these paths.
The general remained in his homeland. He protected the boarders, and kept his people safe. He never killed the moon. He didn't lead an invasion to the Northern Water Tribe or chase the Avatar across the world. He never hired pirates to kill a banished prince. He never met the Blue Spirit, or captured the Avatar in a prison. He wasn't killed by the Spirit of the Ocean. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The King remained in his great hall. He played with his bear, and held wonderful parties for the nobles of the Earth Kingdom, and was happy. He never learned of the suffering outside his palace, or even of how big his kingdom was. He never learned of the treachery of his head of security, or of his own lack of power. He never set out on a journey that would define his life. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The man continued to lead his troops. He protected the Earth King as his duty required. He was never taken from power. His corruption bled through to the people of the Capitol. He never lost control of the city, and he never made a dangerous deal with a fallen princess. He was never betrayed, and most of all, he never killed a young boy, beneath a secret lake.
The last waterbender stayed in her tribe her entire life. She married a caring warrior, and raised her children, and watched her grandchildren grow next to those of her friend. She was never the last waterbender. She was never taken from her home, and thrown in a dry prison to rot. She never learned to bloodbend, and never killed men. She never opened an inn in the Fire Nation, or lured people into the mountain. She never taught a talented young girl her twisted art, and never lost the battle. There was no thread in place to lead her to that path.
The orphan boy was raised by his parents in a happy little village on the edge of a forest. He played soldier, as most young boys in his village did. He ran to hug his father every night, and was tucked in by his mother when he went to bed. He grew to be a happy man, content to be a farmer, as his father had been. He never fought for freedom, or led a rabble of orphans. He never learned to be a real soldier, or lead others in an honorable cause. He never met a young waterbender that taught him when winning was going to far, or fought an airbender. He didn't die under a lake, trying to protect his friends. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The madman lived with his family, his wife, his son, and his daughter. He taught his son to firebend, and doted on his little girl. He took his wife out to the festivals in the capitol, and served his brother in all he could. He never killed his father, or drove his wife away. He never became king because of his brother's grief after his nephew's death. He didn't burn his son or banish him. He didn't continue a ludicrous war. He never battled a twelve year old Avatar, and his firebending was never taken from him. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The Crown Prince rose to take the throne after his father. He led the people of the Fire Nation with honor. He raised his son, and never questioned his past. And he never tried or failed to take the Stronghold of Ba Sing Se. His son was never killed, and he, never exiled. He never bothered to study the other nations, or bending disciplines, and so, never discovered how to redirect lightning. He never followed his nephew into banishment. He never taught the young prince the lessons that shaped him. He didn't help to revive the moon spirit, or meet the Great Masters. He never atoned for the dragons he had killed. He was never compelled to do something greater than the nation he ruled, and so, never became a member of the White Lotus, and rose to become a Grand Lotus. He didn't take back Ba Sing Se to free the people of the Earth Kingdom. He didn't meet a small blind girl, to share a pot of tea and good advice with, and make a lifelong friend in. He didn't live a humble existents as a refugee in a war torn country, and sing a sweet song to a crying little boy about a brave little soldier boy, and he didn't become the father a banished prince, or a small little earthbender needed. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The girl grew up in the shadow of Kyoshi. She became a wonderful warrior and leader. But she never stepped foot off her island. She never watched an adventurous little boy ride the Unagi. She never humbled a proud warrior from a small village at the bottom of the world, and taught him to fight. She never lead her warriors to help fight for freedom, and was never captured by the Fire Nation, or tortured by an insane princess. She didn't spend months in a prison that was inescapable, and then manage to do just that. She never crossed the Serpent's Pass, or fell in love with that brave warrior from the bottom of the world. She didn't help stop an airship fleet, or save the world. There was no thread in place to lead her to that path.
The boy grew up happy, with his mother, his father, and his annoying little sister. He played with his cousin, and married the quiet girl that had been his sister's friend. He never lost his mother. He never spoke out in a war council against a traitorous strategy, and never fought an Agni Kai. He was not scarred by his father, and was never banished on an impossible quest. His uncle never became more than his uncle, and he did not become the man he was meant to be. He never hid behind a blue mask to break a young airbender out of a prison. He never met a young girl from the Water Tribe that taught him of family, love, honor, and hope. He never became the powerful firebending master of the Avatar, or even learned to true meaning of firebending. He never fought an Agni Kai with his sister, or threw his life away to save the girl he loved from lightning. He never became Fire Lord, and he never became friends with the Avatar, or family to a mismatched group of children. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The girl's tribe still flourished, as its sister in the north. The people were still happy, instead of massacred by fire. Her mother and father both lived, and raised the girl and her brother. They were happy. But women of the North tribe never learned to waterbend more than healing. Bloodbending was not retaught as an art of healing. Her grandmother's first love never discovered what had happened to the girl he had loved, or the taught the girl that had changed his life. The girl never reached her own full potential, because there was no driving need to ever be the best. She never had to teach a boy that would have to save the world by the time summer came, and so, she was content. She never traveled to a swamp and found others like her, or learned to bend plants. She didn't bring hope to earthbenders, or liberate them from their prison. She never went on a quest to avenge her mother. She never traveled the world and found her sister in a small blind girl from the Earth Kingdom, or her lover in a confused young man from the Fire Nation. A family was torn apart before it ever had the chance to form. There was no thread in place to lead her to that path.
The boy grew to follow his father's footsteps, and became chief of the tribe. His father took him ice-dodging, and he married a sweet, soft-spoken girl. He led his tribe bravely, protecting and helping when needed. He was content. But he never learned the way of the sword, or found a master that became a second father. He never became the true leader he was meant to be, or lead an invasion to save the free world. He never fell in love with a girl saved by the moon, or a proud warrior that followed the creed of Kyoshi. He never became an inventor, or a brilliant strategist, because he was never called to do so. There was no thread in place to lead him to that path.
The blind girl was protected. Her parents gave her everything she needed and wanted. She grew into a beautiful young woman and perfected her earthbending. She married a rich merchant from the southern part of the kingdom. The blind girl never ran away. There was no one to run after, or more precisely, no one to run to. She never stopped longing for the freedom just outside the garden wall, just past the arena. She never lost a battle in the underground tournaments, and was never kidnapped. She never told her parents of her power. She never found her first friend in a young airbender that offered her freedom. She didn't run from the Fire Princess, or leave her friends, only to share tea with a kind old man who became a second father to her. She never traveled the world with the last airbender, and taught the flighty young boy to move mountains. She never ventured into a desert or tried to stop a Spirit's library from sinking to save her friends, or fight sandbenders to save a flying bison. She never helped destroy a monstrous drill and stop it from infiltrating the walls of Ba Sing Se. She never had the need to force metal to obey her, and so, never learned to bend the unyielding element to her will. She never developed a crush on a warrior from the Water Tribe. She didn't help lead an invasion of the Fire Nation, or burrow into the volcano under the capitol to find the Fire Lord. She didn't live in the Western Air Temple. She never stopped an airship fleet from burning her country. She never found a sister in a girl from the Water Tribe, or brothers form the Water Tribe and Fire Nation. There was no thread to lead her to that path.
In this order: Aang, the Airbenders, Gyotso, Kuzon*, Bumi, Teo, Yue, Zhao, King Kuei, Long Feng, Hama, Jet, Ozai, Iroh and Lu Ten, Suki, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Toph. Kuzon's story is from one of my oneshots. Yes, I made his story up, but I like his story so deal with it. Please process and reply. Tell me what you think of it! You will get a piece of wedding cake, because my mom had to make a wedding cake for a family friend.
Tenneyshoes