Aana: The other Airbender
Book One: Water
Chapter one: The Boy (and Girl) in the Iceberg part 2
A/N- Ok, so ive pretty much been following the first episode word for word but it's getting really annoying and taking forever. Also, I have a feeling that as readers, you already know what happened in the actual story and are here for the whole "What if" thing. Because of that I will be following the plot line a little more loosely. This is also because things would have been different had Aana actually existed in the show. And anyway, that's kind of the point of a fanfiction…
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
Enjoy the story
Aana woke up just in time to see Appa land on a large surface of ice, the entire ground, for as far as she could see, was covered with snow. There was a small village, with igloos for homes and a poorly built watchtower constructed of packed snow. A small crowd gathered around Appa. The little kids "oohed" and "awed," while the older villagers stared at the sky bison suspiciously. Katara slid down Appa's tail, straight up to an old lady that bore a striking resemblance to her. She excitedly explained what had happened while they were gone fishing. Sokka just grumbled and slid (actually fell) the same way Katara did.
Aana glanced at her brother, his face placid as he slept. She climbed down beside him, took one of his arms and slipped it around her shoulder. Leaping into the air she carried Aang down and landed without so much as a tap. She may not have mastered airbending yet, but she was still pretty good. The villagers stared at her and her brother but Aana ignored them. Instead she turned towards Katara, eyebrows furrowed. "Is there anywhere I can put my brother so he can sleep? He's really tired and needs to rest…"
Katara smiled. "Of course, just follow me. I have a tent he can sleep in. I think we could all use a few more hours of sleep before morning comes." She led Aana into a small water tribe tent and pointed out an area where she could put Aang. Gratefully, she set Aang down, covered him with a few thick blankets and set his glider down beside him. "You can sleep in here too of you want." Aana nodded, too busy yawning to vocally reply, and curled up beside her brother.
"Night Aang…" She mumbled, and fell asleep.
The next morning Aana woke up to find her brother just waking up beside her; Katara had just come in to get them. "Oh good! You guys are awake! I can't wait to introduce you guys to everyone! She grabbed Aang's arm and dragged him out of the tent. Aana just followed behind quietly, still a little unsure of the people she didn't know. Aang was always willing to accept anyone right away, but Aana was almost the opposite in that respect.
Outside there were about thirty people waiting for them, the same people that had come to see Appa the night before, only this time they brought their midgets with them. Aana grimaced. The thought of spending more than a minute with tiny snot-monsters did nit appeal to her. Katara continued dragging Aang until they were in front of the group. "Entire village, this is Aang and Aana! Aang and Aana, this is the entire village!" Aang gave the group one of his ridiculous grins. Through his teeth he whispered to his twin "Don't just stand there, wave!" Reluctantly, she complied and gave them the most believable fake smile and stiff wave she could muster.
The village stared at the two siblings, slightly intimidated, not knowing what to say, not knowing where to look. Aang turned to Katara, "uh, why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" An old woman stepped forward to reply.
"Well, no one has seen an Airbender for a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you two." Aang face distorted with confusion.
"Extinct?" He asked, but no one else heard him except for Aana, who was in an equal state of confusion.
"Aang, Aana, this is my Grandmother."
"Call me Gran Gran."
Sokka grabbed Aang's staff, looking rather puzzled. "What is this? A weapon? You can't stab anyone with this!" He held it up, examining it. Aana scowled at Sokka, irritated that his mind automatically jumped to violence.
Aang took it back and explained that it wasn't just any staff; it was a glider that airbenders use to travel the skies. He told them how it made it possible for him to control the air currents around him with airbending, and by doing that he could fly. Sokka cut in here, "You know, the last time I checked, HUMANS CAN'T FLY!"
"Check again!" Then, using the aforementioned technique, Aang demonstrated gliding through the air. Aana looked at her brother gliding through the air. She wished she could join him in the air but that was impossible; the little kids were holding her glider hostage, trying to make it do what Aang's just did.
The small village gasped as he was flying, the small children pointing, some of them laughing with joy. Aang did a few flips and circles and spins, but it wasn't long until he crashed into the poorly built watchtower. 'clumsy as usual,' Aana thought.
Sokka cried out in horror, "my watchtower!" Aana, holding back a laugh, put her hand on Sokka's shoulder in an attempt to be reassuring.
"I'm so sorry for your loss, but your tower was old and out of shape, it was it's time to go. At least you know it was painless." She nodded solemnly, as if she were at a funeral consoling one of the beloveds of the deceased. Sokka brushed off her hand and ran over to the snowy remains of his watchtower, weeping over them until a large pile of snow fell and covered him completely.
Meanwhile, Katara and Gran Gran were talking about whether or not Aang and Aana should be allowed to stay in the village. Katara tried to convince her Grandmother that they should stay, but the austere woman remained uncertain. "But I sense a great wisdom coming from him! He could teach me waterbending!" Aana looked over at her brother, who was currently teaching the kids how to freeze their tongues on sticks. 'Yeah,' she though, 'wisdom.'
Sokka, at this time, was attempting to get the kids to go and learn their "warrior lesson" for the day. They obeyed reluctantly; a few of them even straggled behind just to talk to Aang while they walked to the designated "teaching" area.
In the middle of one of Sokka's all-important speeches about how since the men were all of fighting in the war it was up to the little boys to protect the village and yada yada yada, blah blah blah. They couldn't stop fidgeting and one kid shot up his hand to ask a question. "What…"
"I haff ta go pee!" Sokka slapped his forehead and sighed.
"All right…who else has to go?" The rest of the kids raised their hands as high as they could manage, including Aang.
(A few hours later)
The pure white snow crunched under Aana's feet every step she took. After about an hour and a half Aana got irritated with the villagers, the old women staring at her with suspicion, the young ones staring at her with wonder. While Aang had been off playing with the brats, Aana had been left to fend for herself in the see of unanswerable questions the women kept throwing at her. Were there any more airbenders? Where was the avatar? How did they get to the South Pole? Finally she had had enough and excused herself for a walk alone.
So, now here she stood, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, flattened outlines of her feet trailed back all the way to the small water tribe village, miles off into the distance. She let herself fall backwards into the snow, her arms spread out like wings and her dark hair pooled around her head. All she needed now was some time to think.
Her mind wandered to many places, some of them a little abstract, but eventually it took her back to that day. The day everything changed. It wasn't the storm she was remembering though. It was the calm that came first that occupied her thoughts now. She closed her eyes and let her memories take her back in time…