Light the Sky

Note: This chapter has a lot of explanations for the timeline in which the story takes place. It doesn't explain all the secrets I have up my sleeve, but it does explain (at least to the reader) why things are the way they are. There's a lot of flashbacks in this chapter (which will be italicized), and interactions between Aang and Sokka. Please, please remember that this story will eventually be the pairings promised, but I am thoroughly determined to do this thing right and build up to it properly. Other characters will be introduced as they are encountered by Aang and Sokka, though there will be mentions of important characters (such as Katara, Zuko, etc) in flashbacks. Please, don't ask when Katara will be introduced. I can promise it will be a few chapters, given her circumstances (which will be partially revealed in this chapter), and since much of this story has been written already, it will simply take time and patience. The story itself, though, should satisfy while you wait for it to really develop.

Description: Alternate Timeline: Aang wakes up one hundred years after the fall of the Air Temples on his sixteenth birthday to find the world completely under the control of the Fire Nation and more desperate than ever for the return of the Avatar. AangKataraSokkaTophZukoMai

Chapter Two

"The Fire Nation came to the Air Temple on my sixteenth birthday… The day air nomads are finally raised out of their apprenticeship and elevated to full monks." Aang explained carefully, gazing into the fire. It was summoning memories that felt so fresh to him, but he knew they couldn't be. He knew, in his heart and soul, that it had truly been a century since he had left the temple.

His soul had been calling out for the other air benders since he had woken, and still, he felt nothing, despite the fact that his soul and theirs had all been so tightly interwoven. He felt like a boat set adrift onto the ocean, floating away and disappearing under tides, lonely and unreachable. "They came with the power of a comet…" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "It made them so powerful."

Sokka nodded, realizing that Aang's story was eerily similar to his own, but allowed him to keep going. "They drew on the power of a comet to finish their conquest of the world." He sounded bitter.

"They came just when I had finished the ceremony…"

Morning prayers were solemn, as usual, but there was an underlying vein of adrenaline and excitement. A new brother was being initiated among them that day, the day of his coming of age, and the anniversary of Avatar Roku's death. The Avatar would be announced to the world on that day, though the boy had known for years exactly who he was and what his destiny was. Given the disturbances of the world in recent years, they had thought it prudent to inform him of exactly how urgent it was for him to further continue his mastery of air bending and over himself. Even with the excitement of the revealing of the Avatar, and his ascension from apprentice-hood, there were murmurs and concerns for the future. The monks who watched the heavens warned of some kind of cosmic phenomenon which appeared to be causing imbalance in the world, especially in the already unbalanced Fire Nation. They warned that the miserably hot weather foretold of something worse lying in wait for the monks, but most were too concerned with the excitement of their Avatar to be truly concerned or worried about misfortune when the greatest fortune had fallen upon their people in turn.

The subject of their excitement was kneeling, wrapped in a solid white tunic, amongst them. The blue tattoos he had earned nearly five years before, at an unprecedented age, were stark in contrast to his pale skin and paler clothing. Aang was nervous, but he felt more ready than he had ever in his entire life. It was a nervous excitement that was pumping in every beat of his heart. Finally, after the entire group rose and fell in unison for their morning sun salutation, the elder of the temple lowered his hands and addressed the group.

"Today, we welcome another to our brotherhood." He looked at Aang, who remained still in his meditative position, eyes closed and humbled. "Avatar Aang has grown under our tutelage, and now, upon his coming of age, he joins us as an equal and no longer our apprentice. Aang, please come forward to me."

Aang lowered his hands and came forward, keeping his excitement quelled. He stayed silent because he was sure it was the best thing to do. None of the monks had prepared him for that day.

The Elder handed him a small and sharp knife. "Today, we cleanse you of the sins of the world, so you may ascend to the very heights of spiritual understanding and strength. You make the first cut, and take the first step to cleansing yourself." He handed the dagger to Aang, who took it readily and held out his left arm, clenching the knife in his right hand.

"I bleed out the suffering of this world, that I may understand the next." He was careful and quick, etching the eternal symbol of the Avatar onto the back of his hand where the arrow pointed. "May these hands be cleansed and do their work with strength and justice." He didn't quite know where the words had come from, or even why he chose to use the symbol of the Avatar as his contribution to his cleansing. In the end, however, it made sense for him. It was his personal identity, and the monks seemed to accept this. He repeated the same motion for his right hand, gave the knife back to the Elder and prostrated himself at his feet, back arched and arms stretched forward.

"May the brothers come forward and give their blessings to this, our new brother." He kneeled and etched the symbol of the Air nomads onto the back of Aang's neck, passing the knife off to another one of the brothers, who continued the pattern, telling tales and truths in the symbols he and all the others carved into the flesh of the new monk. They whispered encouragement and wisdom to him as he lay motionless and unresponsive to the pain, as they chanted the traditions of the air nomads

"I bleed out the greed of this world, that you may understand and accept those who fall victim to its clutches."

"I bleed out the pride of the world, that you may never be caught in its tangled webs and rescue those who have been."

"I bleed out the ugly lusts of the world, that you may be enlightened on the divine light and grace of pure love."

"I bleed out the jealousies of the world, that you may recognize what is truly necessary and never stray from your divine path."

"I bleed out the idleness of the world, that you may never falter or hesitate and rescue those who have fallen to its cruel clutches."

"I bleed out the wrath and the evils of the world, that you may never be hurt by its touch and you may spread that strength to others around you."

Finally, when his arms, legs, and back was littered with the intricate symbols that would heal into scars of which he would wear with pride, the Elder took the knife and cut the cord on Aang's tunic, which was staining crimson with his blood. He and the other monks lifted him and lay him out on the raised stone bench which faced the rising sun.

"To the world, we give our new brother, the Avatar." The Elder announced, approaching Aang as he lay motionless and meditative on the stone slab. "Aang, you will meditate here on the sins of the world you are bleeding out. We will be here with you, reflecting on these same sins, and offering you our own strengths to build yours. You will attend a journey much greater than any of ours have been, and we offer you our strength to lead you."

He didn't move for what felt like an eternity, feeling the blood slip in streams down his body and pool underneath him. Finally, the Elder and Gyatso approached him, lifting his weighted body from the slab. Cool cloths mopped up the excess blood that his tunic, now dripping in red blood, had not collected, and though the cuts were starting to congeal, it was obvious they would bleed more before they were completely healed. They helped remove the bloody tunic and washed away the rusty stains on his pale skin. Then, they helped him dress in a new set of underclothes, followed by a pair of pants and boots. Still supporting his weakened form, they brought him a saffron robe that had been made for him. He supported himself, despite his blood loss, so that he could pull the robe on for himself.

Gyatso supported him again, though the elderly man's figure would have suggested he would be too weak to support Aang. "Congratulations, Aang." He told him, helping him take a few steps toward the door, where the remaining residents of the temple, including the young apprentices Aang had just been elevated out of, were waiting patiently for the outcome of his ascension.

A small group of awkward looking apprentices stopped dead and cheered at the sight of Aang and the robe he was wearing, who smiled a little for them, barely keeping himself standing and steady.

"Teachers, students, and brothers of our temple," The Elder announced from his left side. "Our brother, Aang, has ascended from his apprenticeship in our temple." He paused a moment for the atmosphere to clear a bit. "And, to you, first in the world, we present Avatar Aang, brother of our people."

A collective gasp ran through the group. Though Aang had been told of his destiny several years before, for precautionary reasons, it was evident that many of the temple, including the apprentices and many of the brothers who did not participate in spiritual ritual, had not been told.

Though he was already very weary, the look of shock on the faces of everyone in the room who was not already aware was clear, even as he tried to maintain his composure. Slowly, everyone in the room lowered to their knees and bowed respectfully to him. Aang frowned, wishing they would just stand up and acknowledge that he was still Aang. He bowed to them in return, keeping his humility in his embarrassment.

Very suddenly, in a moment of cosmic irony, one of the watch-brethren burst into the chamber, panting.

"The Fire Nation… they've sent soldiers… they're here!" He tried to catch his breath and warn the rest of the group. "I've never seen fire bending like this!"

Several monks looked at one another, and chaos broke out in the hall. One of the Air Masters called the younger apprentices to his side and herded the youths into a secret chamber where they hoped to find safety. There was a flash of fire outside, and a few yells that followed. The Elder stood from his bow calmly, and calmly spoke to several of the other monks. Aang could barely hear anything through the fuzz in his ears.

"…messenger… sister… warn…"

Ignoring the dull aches all over his body, Aang sprang forward, not looking for any guidance or instruction. He was certain something had been infused with the water used to cleanse his wounds to prevent infections of any kind, and that had helped to numb what should have still been sharp and stinging pain, but his head was still spinning from blood loss. He was the Avatar. He had had years to come to terms with his destiny, and now it seemed he was being tested, on the sixteenth anniversary of Avatar Roku's death and his subsequent birth.

A shot of fire shot just past him and he barely had enough time to react and dodge it. The heat from the flames caught him, and he was surprised to find that the previously stifling air was now bearable, though it was heating with every passing instant. He flipped out a window and landed smoothly on his feet between one of the other monks and a group of fire benders. He wished he hadn't left his glider in Appa's saddle, but made use of his own hands as instruments of his bending and blew the fire benders back against a statue of a past Elder. They recovered quickly and two sent enormous blasts of fire at him. He spun quickly, deflecting the fire back toward them, and they screamed at the heat of their own bending, scrambling to bend it away from them. He seized he opportunity to send sharp blasts of air toward them, blasting them back further and shredding the outer layers of their armor.

He rushed past them to find one of the older monks, perhaps ten to fifteen years his senior, propped against a statue, his burns oozing blood and something Aang did not care to think about. He moaned loudly, and Aang found the moment to issue departing prayers to him, embracing what was his new brother as he exhaled his life and soul into the world. Aang closed his eyes and prayed briefly, feeling a surge of anger and pain welling up inside him.

A hot burning filled his stomach, spreading to his limbs and the rest of his body as he rose above the ground, tattoos glowing brightly. The sudden grasp at his hand from Gyatso jarred him back from passing into the Avatar State.

"No, Aang!" He called to him, tugging the teenager into the safe protection of another statue. "Aang, you must leave here."

Aang looked stupefied. "Leave? I have to help defend the temple!"

Gyatso shook his head slowly, and sadly. "Not today, Aang. Today, you must leave. You have a much greater destiny than staying behind and fighting a lost battle."

"It's not over yet…" He tried to stay calm but shook violently, his voice rising slowly. "The battle isn't lost yet!"

The older monk squeezed his shoulder. "Aang, you are intended for a much different destiny."

At that moment, another monk whom Aang recognized as one of his friends who had recently also been elevated from his apprenticeship skidded to a stop upon seeing them. "Aang!" He cried, embracing his friend in relief. "I mean… Avatar…" He stepped back and bowed reverently. "Everyone's so worried about you… They… Well, you just disappeared… We thought…" He trailed off, looking foolish. "I'm so glad you're alright, Avatar."

Aang felt something drop out of the bottom of his stomach. He didn't think he could hate those words so much. "I'm alright, Kalii." He assured him. "I want to fight for the temple…"

Gyatso interjected without hesitation. "But everyone, even you Aang, knows that you cannot stay. We were not truly as prepared as we ought to have been. We cannot let anything happen to you, when it is not only our temple that will need you."

Aang clenched his fists. "They won't believe I'm gone… They have to know I left, otherwise…"

Kalii looked thoughtful, then grabbed Aang's shoulder. "I'll help you. Get your bison and leave. I'll pretend to be you. They don't know what one air bender looks like from another, let alone what the Avatar would look like."

Aang shook his head, slowly at first, and then more violently as he considered the repercussions of Kalii's idea. "No. I won't let anyone else take responsibility for this for me."

"The world will need you to live, Aang." Gyatso touched his shoulder gently, meaning to give him encouragement.

"And you all will need me here." The answer was so simple, why didn't anyone else see it the way he did?

Kalii stared at the ground. "I know everything would have been different if this hadn't happened today… Everyone knowing you're the Avatar now. I know you still don't think you're any different than the rest of us… But you are. You can't escape that, no matter how hard you fight or how far you run."

Aang grappled with the statement, and found that he felt petulant and angry. He tried to subdue the feelings of anger at knowing that he really was different. There was no way he could have simply been treated like a regular air monk when he was born to be so much more. He understood the magnitude of the destiny he had been granted, and, worse, that it was that same destiny which was dragging him away from his home and his brothers.

"I'll go…" He mumbled, grudgingly.

Kalii straightened his robes, and nodded. "Go get Appa and try to escape without them noticing. Wait for a signal. You'll know it. I'll distract them in the Hall so you can make a clean escape." He embraced Aang briefly and disappeared amongst the fray, leaving nothing but a hot, angry hole in the bottom of Aang's stomach.

Gyatso gave him a fatherly embrace, smiling faintly with his wrinkled eyes. "Be brave, Aang. No one will blame you for having to do this… Be brave, and have faith in yourself. What happens here will happen, and you must promise not to turn back. There are greater things at stake."

Aang nodded slowly and solemnly, the weight of a whole world descending onto his shoulders. "I won't… I…" He looked away, shame burning at him. His first act as the Avatar was going to be to retreat and hide away, while his people, his family, would die for his sake. "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be. Go!" Aang took a final look at his mentor, then hurried through the hidden hallways to where the bison would be resting under normal circumstances

He darted into a storage room and seized his travel bag, staff, and a set of reins for Appa. The bison was easy to find, slightly smaller than the others, and Appa was among the others who were panicked and roaring at the disturbances in the temple. Aang reached Appa and swiftly attached the reins and bag.

"I'll meet you a few miles away, at that big mountaintop we used to go to all the time." He hugged the bison for comfort and reassurance, opening his glider and lifting into the air. "Don't get caught!" Appa lifted off into the air, disappearing into a thick cloud formation, while Aang circled the area and landed on the roof of the Hall, where gaping holes had been blown from the invading fire benders. He crept silently across the roof, peering into the holes until he could see the confrontation between the Elder, whom Aang had never seen so fierce-looking, and what appeared to be a Fire Nation military officer. He drew on the air itself to help him hear what they were saying, passing the word vibrations through the air into his ears.

"Why have you come here, on the anniversary of Avatar Roku's death, to disgrace our temple?" The Elder's voice was slow and even, even peaceful, but his words were biting.

The officer scoffed. "This is the day you will reveal the identity of the new Avatar… Incidentally, we have also been granted great power by the heavens." He carelessly shot a blast of fire toward a giant statue of Avatar Yangchen, eliciting an angry yelp from the current as it blew apart her visage. "And we have no intentions of allowing the Avatar to stand in our way, as he has before."

"You will not take the Avatar from this place." The Elder remarked slowly, ignoring the fact that the fire benders were carelessly destroying the history of the temple.

Aang's heart sank as he saw Kalii step forward, determination in his eye and strength pouring from him.

"I am the Avatar."He called out, drawing the attention from the whole room onto himself.

"Kalii, what are you—" The Elder began, but Kalii held up a hand, somehow conveying his plan to the older monk immediately.

Aang couldn't contain his internal frustration and anger at being utterly helpless. He wanted to believe that there were greater things that required his attention, but he couldn't tear himself away from the temple just yet.

"Leave this place." Kalii warned, sounding more authoritative than Aang could ever have hoped to.

The fire bender laughed. "And what will you do? Your bending, no matter your mastery, is useless. Come silently with us, and perhaps we will spare the temple."

Kalii appeared to be considering the idea, as though it had never occurred to him that this would be the position presented to him. Then, everything seemed to happen all at once.

He took a step forward, raising his arms to offer surrender, so long as the temple was left untouched, as Aang opened his mouth to yell, to stop him. In the instant that followed, a trembling young fire bender soldier raised his arms and blew an enormous fireball at the fake Avatar, in premature terror of being killed by the monk, and Aang's voice died in his throat.

The officer glowed in his fury, turning on the young soldier, who seemed more frightened of his commander than of the "Avatar" whom he had imagined threatening him. "You fool! Killing the Avatar doesn't prevent him from anything! He'll be reborn now!" He kicked Kalii's scorched and lifeless body.

Aang choked a little, and then fell through the roof in a mess of yelling and fury.There was an enormous vacuum in the room, as he drained the air from the lungs of the fire benders, removing an essential component of their bending from their control, and bending it to tear apart those its absence did not suffocate. He focused his energy on ensuring his brothers kept their air, and barely noticed when several ambitious fire benders sent blasts of fire toward him. Most only grazed him, but a few left angry red marks which would blister and bleed once his skin got over the shock of the burn itself. For all his fury, he found that he was quite himself, that his rage and power was all his own, and he had not slid into the control of the Avatar Spirit itself.

Several of the monks darted toward him, and the last thing he saw was a long line of fire benders, more than he could have ever imagined, storming the Hall as the monks pushed and shoved him up onto the back of his bison, which he could hardly remember calling…

Aang purposefully left out the details of his being the Avatar when recounting the tale to Sokka, certain that it might cause more ill than good if he revealed himself after a hundred years of absence. In fact, any indication he might be special to the monks was eradicated, and it became simplified to the point that he was simply a young monk who had seen monstrous things and could not handle that which he had experienced.

"So, you just ran away?" Sokka sounded incredulous and disbelieving that anyone could be so pathetic.

Aang didn't look at Sokka. He couldn't know anything but what the air bender told him, and he was already so ashamed at being unable to help his people, at being forced to flee. "Yeah. I just ran away." He stared at the fire, his knees pulled up to his chest. The pain in his back was growing, even though he was refusing to acknowledge it at all.

"Coward." The word was distasteful and like acid as Sokka spat it out, giving Aang a look that clearly marked his lack of respect for him. Aang found he didn't care so much what Sokka thought, just as long as he left him in peace and quiet.

"Yeah," Aang muttered, holding out his cold hands to the fire. "Yeah, I know." He let the silence sit uncomfortably between the two of them for a long time before breaking it. "Then what happened to the world after the air benders fell?" He didn't really have to ask whether they had or not, it was just an unstated fact.

Sokka closed his eyes, drifting into memory for a moment, then opened them and stared at Aang unabashedly. "Well, we damn well didn't run from the Fire Nation."

Aang met his eyes and refused to look away, though the jab had been intended to make him feel shame. "Tell me."

Sokka leaned back, hands gripping the pelt he was sitting on. Aang had chosen to sit on the barest section of the tent, where there were no furs to offend his beliefs. "The Fire Nation chipped away at the world for a long time… A few cities here and there, a region once in a while. The Earth Kingdom took the longest to fall. They took all the benders from the South Pole early in the war, and we were left desperate and halfway crippled. We never quit, though. A few areas tried to turn themselves over peacefully, hoping it would grant them some sort of… I don't know." Sokka looked repulsed by the idea of surrender more than Aang's supposed cowardice. "I guess they were hoping the Fire Nation would go easy on them."

"In the end, four years ago, the only places left to fight the Fire Nation with their full power were the North Pole and Ba Sing Se, in the Earth Kingdom. The comet," At this he looked at Aang again, rather than the depths of his fire. "Came again and they…" He shook his head. "They just annihilated everything that stood in their way. They sent a small naval force here to finally finish their conquest… Really, it was just a single ship with a lot of soldiers. A lot of people died in Ba Sing Se and the North Pole, but my father did everything he could to prevent death, and preserve our freedom." He shifted, lost in his memories, and Aang didn't bother interrupting.

"We fought like heroes… A lot of us died, and a lot of people were lost…" He looked proud at first, and then the moment faded into carefully masked pain. "We were beaten, beaten badly, by the crown prince of the Fire Nation and his military escorts. He went home a real hero, and we lost so much here. Most of our warriors were taken prisoner, and my father had to bargain for our village's survival. They were going to burn it to the ground and kill all of us, if my father hadn't made the necessary sacrifices."

In the fire light, Aang caught sight of the shiny white scar tissue that framed Sokka's face and he felt as though he had swallowed ice. "I'm sorry you've had to suffer so much." It was really a blanket apology for the whole world, because the Avatar should have been there, but when he spoke it aloud, it sounded hollow and meaningless.

"I didn't think a coward could really understand, anyway." Sokka stood up and snatched a blanket up and tossed it to Aang, who felt a pang of anger at being misunderstood and not being able to do anything about it.

"I'll be on my way in the morning." Aang assured him, lying out on the floor.

Sokka frowned, contemplating whether or not he could simply allow a seriously injured human being wander off into the arctic wilderness, cowardly deserter of his people or not. "Not with those burns and cuts. I don't care where they came from, you still need to heal, and then you can disappear for all I care."

Closing his eyes to quell the frustrated eruptions in his chest, Aang tried to go to sleep, but turned and turned, unable to get comfortable.

"Sokka?"

"What?" Sokka acted like he was annoyed at being woken up, but he was just as awake as Aang was.

"What kind of sacrifice did your father have to make?" It had to have been awful for Sokka to be stewing over his defeat four years later in the same undignified manner Aang himself wanted to.

"We're a Fire Nation colony now. We're controlled by people who don't know or understand our culture, and just want to wipe it out completely. We don't revolt, because otherwise they kill everyone. We abide by their rules and laws, celebrate their leader, and try to forget that we're still Water Tribe. The Northern Tribe is much worse off, but we have able-bodied men to fight for us, and we can't. We don't have any benders left here, even the new generations that were born after they took the old ones. And my father…"

Sokka trailed off into silence and remained that way for a long time. Aang waited patiently for him to continue.

"My father traded my sister for the half peace we have." He sounded disgusted, angry, and bitter. Underneath that was unending weariness and sorrow. "I haven't seen her in years, since they took her back to the Fire Nation. She was our bargaining chip, and Dad was lucky that the Fire Nation took us up on it, but every day it burns me up that she's sitting in the Fire Nation. Sitting there, just waiting."

Aang didn't follow. "What do you mean, waiting?" He heard Sokka roll over to face him, so he fully felt the acidity of his next words.

"My sister was given to the Fire Nation as the ultimate prisoner of war, in exchange for the lives of our people. She's just sitting there, waiting for…" He trailed off and rolled back over. Aang sensed that he had realized exactly why Sokka hated the Fire Nation and their rule so much.

To him it was inevitable that his sister sacrifice her personal freedom for the sake of her people, and it was only the sacrifice of his family that kept his people alive. There was no changing that for him or anyone else. If they revolted, not only would all his people suffer, so would his sister, halfway around the world in the Fire Nation. It was tentative, chaotic, and unbalanced, and anything could tip the scales out of their favor.

Aang sat up slowly, looking across the room at Sokka with compassion for his utter defeat. He was still trying to come to terms with his own losses, but the suffering of the remainder of the world was speaking, screaming, to him.

"If you can stand the company of a coward much longer than the healing process, I'll help you with this." He offered slowly, the words and ideas coming from somewhere but himself.

Sokka sat up and looked at him in surprise. "What?"

Aang bowed his head in respect and shame, though it was mostly out of his habitual humility. Something was whispering to him that it was important that he make this offer at that moment. "I can't sit back and let the world exist like this. If I am such a coward, I want to make it right. Let me fight this with you."

Sokka looked stunned at the idea of fighting, though he had dreamed of doing so for so long. He offered an arm out to Aang. "Maybe you're not such a coward, after all."

Aang took his hand and found his elbow being grasped by Sokka. He returned it tentatively.

"Maybe not."

End Chapter Two