Summary: They lost, failed, Ozai had won. But the spirits couldn't accept that outcome. So Aang was sent back to where his adventure began to try again. He'll have help, but it won't be easy. A time travel story.

Author's Note: Ok, going to add this here. Probably should have from the start. This is very likely going to be a Zukaang story. Nothing explicit, but that is the romance that feels like it fits best. If you don't like it then I suggest you move on to a different story. There are plenty out there :)


Deep in the heart of the Fire Nation, three figures fight. Two for survival and one for power. Water meets flames again and again and laughter echoes through the air as blue chases blue. The girl in blue fights desperately against the girl in red, both barely in their teens, the same age yet so very different. The waterbender fights desperately, both for herself and the other with her. The firebender fights with a heavy lance of one who has lost themselves in their own mind. Neither pay much attention to the third person on the field. One because she does not care and the other because she doesn't dare turn away from her opponent to check. Laying out on the arena ground where the fight began, the young man barely clings to life. His desperate attempt to save his friend cost him deeply. He can still feel the lightning coursing through his veins. He tries desperately to catch a glimpse of the continuing fight even as his sight dims. The sounds of battle slowly slip out of his grasp as the world goes out of focus, the red glow of the comet fading to black in his vision. The battle rages on beyond him, but his battle is lost. Neither girl notices as his eyes slide closed and he falls still.

High in the air, upon a metal contraption made of steel and hate, two figures cling to each other for survival. A young man, barely touching the edge of adulthood, lays on his back. One leg is broken and his arm feels wrenched as it hangs over the side, clinging to the shaking fingers of the child below him. The girl has barely begun to live, not even in her teens, but she clings to life by her fingers. If ever of them slips she's done and they both know it. The boy is out of weapons. All they can do is hold on and wait for the end. Close by, yet horribly far away, the third member of their group rushes to try and save them. The girl is barely older than the boy and desperation clings to her as she directs the machine under her in an attempt to save the others. It's a race against time and she's losing.

Atop a plateau in the Earth Kingdom two figures fight for dominance, blue light meets red in a battle of wills. Red eats away at blue, pushing it down further and further until, in a moment that takes both an eternity and the blink of an eye, blue vanishes in a wash of red. A body falls and the other laughs, victorious.


The world spins to a halt as four figures look down somberly. Somehow they seem to see all three scenes at the same time.

"The Avatar failed," one of them says. His voice sounds like a roaring bonfire and his eyes glow like embers as he looks down at the fallen boy.

"There was not enough time for him to learn," another speaks, her voice smooth, both ancient and impossibly young. Hair whiter than snow flows around her and she looks horribly sad.

"This can't be allowed," this one has the voice that almost sounds like a hurricane in full spin as he frowns "The balance is too far gone already. If he falls now it will not be fixable."

"What can be done?" the last asked evenly, her own voice sounding much like a landslide "I know he is one of your children, but his failure is what it is. Unless you have a suggestion on how to fix it?" All four of them fall silent for a long moment before the white-haired woman speaks again.

"He must be sent back," she speaks firmly, wise far beyond the years she should hold "He did not have enough time to learn what he must. So he must be given more time. It is within our power if we work together." There was a pause.

"She speaks the truth," flames crackle as he speaks, thoughtful and considering "But what chance does he have to succeed even if we send him back. He is still too young and the action may break him."

"Then send another back with him," the earth rumbled after a moment "He needs a strong foundation or he may crumble. So send back another to support him."

"We cannot send back one that lives still," the wind whispers a warning "And we cannot wait or the window will close. That leaves only one option." Another long pause.

"That may be for the best," the flames reply "He will have support from the beginning and it will lessen the immediate threat. And I admit it holds a better promise for my own lands in the end."

"Such a drastic change will alter their path," the light reminds them "But perhaps it is for the best." All four figures fall silent for a time before the man of fire nods.

"We are decided then?" A murmur of assent stirs the fabric of the world itself before four voices speak as one.

"Let it be done."

The world swirls and changes and goes black.


Aang

Cold. That was the first thing that Aang notice. It's cold, colder than he's felt in a long time. He thought he could remember hearing a couple of vague voices, but he can't remember understanding what they said. A new voice catches his attention. A voice he was very familiar with.

"Stop it!" Who is Katara talking to? And why does her voice sound off? What had he been doing? Everything felt fuzzy. He'd been fighting the Fire Lord, he was pretty sure that was it. Had he passed out afterward? He forced his eyes open with a slight groan.

"Katara what...?" his question trails off as his eyes focus. Katara is leaning over him, but everything is wrong. She looks younger and she's wearing her parka from back in the South Pole. He can see Sokka just behind her, also dressed like when he'd first met them. And they're staring at him with just as much shocked confusion as he's feeling. Sokka looks suspicious as well. And there's ice. Everywhere. His eyes shoot open wide and he sits up abruptly, forcing Katara to quickly straighten to keep him from crashing into her. "What's going on?!" he looks around, eyes wide and frantic. This scene is familiar. He knows this place. This is where he first woke up from the iceberg "Why are we here?! Where's Ozai?" He looks back at Katara, feeling like he's starting to hyperventilate. The looks that Katara and Sokka are giving him don't help. They're confused and don't seem to know what he's talking about.

"Who is Ozai?" Sokka's voice is off too, slightly younger and tinted with angry suspicion "And how do you know my sister's name?!" Aang looks between the two of them and he knows his breathing is starting to come in short, panicked breaths, but this can't be happening. They don't know who he is? He has to be dreaming.

"You," his voice breaks "You don't know who I am?" The siblings share a confused look before Katara looks back at him with a sympathetic and kind look.

"No," she tells him apologetically "I'm sorry. You seem to know my name though. Can you tell me yours." Aang sucks in a sharp breath and shakes his head.

"I'm dreaming," he says frantically, jumping to his feet. He isn't really talking to them, but Katara replies anyways.

"Hey, look," she tries soothingly, getting to her feet and putting a hand on his shoulder "You seem to be really confused, but it's ok. We'll figure it out." Behind her Sokka clutches his spear tightly, watching him warily. Aang gives a shaky laugh, but can't help but lean into her touch slightly.

"Right," he replies after a moment, forcing himself to calm his breathing "Right. I'm fine." He looks around again "Appa. I need to get Appa." He turns away from them, unable to deal with the way they're looking at him, and hurries to where Appa is still resting. "Appa, it's time to wake up," he tells his large friend. He can't even laugh when Sokka cries out in alarm at the sight of the flying bison.

"What is that?!" Aang looks back at the younger version of his warrior friend and gives a sad smile.

"This is Appa. He's my flying bison." As expected Sokka looks skeptical.

"Right," Sokka drawls, just like last time "And this is Katara, my flying sister. Though you apparently already know her name." The last part is said with a suspicious glare. Aang gives him a slightly shaky smile.

"I know it's hard to believe, flying bison have been missing for the last hundred years. They are the original airbenders and were wiped out along with the Air Nomads."

"The Air nomads?" Katara asks, visibly brightening "Are you an airbender?!" He takes a shaky breath and lets it out, turning to face them more fully. Either he's dreaming and he'll wake up soon or he has somehow gone back in time to when he first woke up from the ice. Either way, it won't hurt to just go along with things. If he has gone back in the past it would give him time to get better, do better. Because the last thing he remembers is fighting Ozai. He'd managed to capture him, he was sure of that, and he was trying to take his bending away like the lion-turtle taught him. Then...bright light and the feeling of something burning and oily seeping into his being, then nothing. Had he lost? That thought made his heart clench in his chest, but he pushes it away for now and bows to his two friends.

"My name is Aang," he tells them "And I am an airbender." He brings up his hands and summons a swirling ball of air between them. They're staring at him in shock and some excitement on Katara's part. This buys Aang some time to make a decision. In the end, it isn't much of one, not anymore. He wasn't going to hide from who he was, not again. Not if this was somehow a second chance. "But..." They're looking at him again, meeting his gaze "I'm a little more than that." He hesitates for just a moment longer before shifting his stance and bringing a small stream of water up from the ocean. He brings the water up to dance around Katara and Sokka before forming an orb in his hands "I'm the Avatar." They're gaping now and Aang is somewhat worried that he may have broken them. Suddenly Katara is lunging for him, gripping onto his hands excitedly.

"You can waterbend!" she squeals as the water he was controlling falls to the ice "Can you teach me?!"

"Katara!" Sokka objects "He might still be a fire nation spy!" Katara doesn't look impressed as she looks back at him with a glare.

"You think The Avatar is a Fire Nation spy?" she repeats in disbelief, causing him to flush slightly in embarrassment.

"Yeah, well, you never know," Sokka grumbles in reply and Aang can only let out a slightly shaky laugh.

"No Fire Nation spy here," he tries to reassure the other boy "It would kind of defeat the purpose of my duty. Since I kind of need to finish mastering the four elements and defeat Fire Lord Ozai." Sokka glares at him suspiciously for a moment longer but seems to accept his words for now. So Aang turns his attention back to Katara. "I can teach you a little," he offers "But I need to go to the North Pole soon. I'm not a master. I've mastered air and I think I'm close to mastering water. I need a lot of work on earth and fire still, fire more than earth." He grimaced. He knew it was impossible to fully master three elements in less than a year, but maybe he would have done better if he hadn't wasted so much time.

"You will?" Katara asks, clearly ecstatic "Thank you so much! I've tried to figure things out, but it's hard without a teacher." Aang nods. It would be weird to teach her, she'd been his teacher after all, but she deserved it. Not completely comfortable with interacting with his two friends that somehow no longer know him he searches for what to say next and catches sight of Appa again.

"Do you guys want a ride? Appa is too tired to fly right now, but he can at least swim us back to land."

"I am not riding that!" Sokka protests, staring at Appa in horror.

"Then I guess you can just stay here on the ice then," Katara tells him, sticking her tongue out at her brother. Aang can't help but smile at their antics as he moves to jump lightly onto Appa's saddle.

"He's completely safe, I promise," he tells Sokka, holding his hand down to help Katara up. Sokka grumbles a bit more but eventually agrees and clambers up as well. The beginning trip back to land is silent, but after they reach the shore Katara seems to shake off whatever was keeping her silent.

"So...Avatar Aang"

"Aang," he cuts her off immediately. The awed look she was giving him was bad enough, he couldn't handle her calling him that "Just Aang, please." Katara smiles at him and nods.

"Aang then. How...how did you know my name? Is it an Avatar thing?" Aang grimaces at that, looking out at the ice in front of them.

"It's...a long story," he tells her. And an unbelievable one. It would probably be best if he kept it to himself. She would be safer if she didn't leave her home. As far as he knew no one had bothered her village after Zuko left. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Oh...alright," she sounds disappointed, but she doesn't let it keep her down for long and soon she's pestering him with questions about waterbending. He lets himself sink into that safer conversation until they reach their village. Just like last time thee whole village had come out to see what was going on. Sokka jumped down as soon as Appa had come to a stop and Katara scrambled down after him, hurrying over to her Gran-Gran. For his part Aang stays up on Appa's head, watching them with a somber expression.

"Gran-Gran!" Katara greets her grandmother happily "This is Aang," she gestures back at him and he raises a hand in greeting "He's the Avatar! He said he would teach me some waterbending!" The older woman's gaze shoots over to him.

"The Avatar huh," she hums "I see. And what does The Avatar want from us?" Aang bites back a sigh but moves to jump down, landing lightly in front of her.

"Nothing ma'am," he replies politely "I ended up here by chance. I was trapped in an iceberg after a bad storm. Katara saved me." He's not fully certain how to explain his situation, but that seems to do the trick. Kanna relaxes slightly.

"I see," she muses "Well, you're welcome here Avatar. We don't have much, but we have is yours." Aang smiles at her. He can see where Katara got some of her compassion from.

"Thank you, ma'am. I wouldn't mind somewhere to sleep for a time. I don't need any food, I have some packed on Appa."

"Food that you should save for your trip North," she points out mildly "We have enough to share." Aang shakes his head.

"Thank you, but," he flushes slightly and rubs the back of his neck "I'm a vegetarian you see. It's...it's an Air Nomad thing. I do appreciate the offer though." Her gaze is sharp and thoughtful as she takes that in.

"I see, well, we can at least provide you with a place to rest." He bows in reply, a proper Air Nomad bow.

"Thank you, ma'am," he pauses "May I ask your name?"

"Kanna," she replies somewhat shortly before turning to the rest of the Tribe "Everyone back to work. I'll get our guest settled in. You can ask him questions after he rests." They disperse without questioning and Aang can't help but note the respect she has. It's a stark contrast to how the woman in the Northern Tribe were treated when he was there. He doesn't comment on it though, simply allowing her to lead him to an igloo.

"You can rest in here," she tells him and he gives her another bow.

"Thank you Lady Kanna," he tells her before glancing behind him at Katara "Once I finish my nap I'll show you some more waterbending basics, ok?" Katara beams at that and nods.

"That sounds perfect! Thank you again!" Aang can only smile and nod before he makes his way inside. As soon as the furs fall closed behind him his smile dies too. This whole situation is a mess and he doesn't know how to fix it. If this really was a second chance, a repeat, then he would take advantage of it. He would train harder. He would keep them safe. Sinking to his knees he takes the time to shift his shirt and feel at his back. Sure enough, no lightning scar. He brings his hands back around to look at them. He had a little time before Zuko should show up. Since he wasn't wasting it penguin sledding he could take the time to try and process this a bit before teaching Katara what he could. He couldn't ask her and Sokka to come with him again. Put themselves in danger again. He would need to leave, and make sure Zuko followed him before things got too far along. Shaking his head to try and clear it he shifted into a cross-legged position and settled down to meditate. If he hadn't been hit with lightning maybe he could reach Roku. Maybe Roku could help him work this out.