Sneak extract from chapter 3

Aang slowly got back up. He needed to get away from ******. Too hot. Need air. Need. He dropped to his knees. "Zuko? Can you," he took a sharp breath, "Fuck, can you help... can you help me up?" Aang finished, before taking another sharp pained breath. Toph released her hold on the building which promptly collapsed. Adrenaline wearing off, he trembled as he looked back at ***********, fear-stricken in his eyes as Zuko sprinted towards him.

Seem familiar? This chapter is similar to chapters 1 and 2 from the old book.

This Aang story is focused on what would happen if M Night Shyamalan never happened and the comics never surfaced, and also what Aaron Ehasz said was somewhat true. I have taken his base plot, removed the Zutara bit and at least making it match TloK which Ehasz' plot didn't. fleshing it out to produce a somewhat decent story. I hope to make at least a 5th book if not a 6th book in the future. The writing style will also be completely different, be prepared for more near-death experiences and more action then the original series boasted due to it being aimed at an older audience.

Book 4 - Change

Chapter 1 - Desolation

Ba-Sing-Se often had a cooling breeze thanks to its location. It's probably the reason why Aang enjoyed it so much here, kind of like a home away from home. As the Southern Air Temple was on top of a tall mountain, it received sustained high winds so having a constant breeze reminded him of these memories. On a typical day, he could just spend hours sitting peacefully, watching the world go by it helped to calm the turmoil going on inside of him. Guru Pathik used to say that a clear mind was the key to achieving inner peace, however, his mind was anything but peaceful. So much had happened since he was brought out of his deep sleep by Katara nearly a year ago, too much for his young mind to contemplate. His life was already plagued by death, destruction, and pressure. You could only just imagine having the fate of the entire world resting on your shoulders with the almost certain risk of death just around the corner. It is certainly enough to shatter even the most strong-willed person.

"Hey, Aang? Can I talk to you for a second?" Zuko was also a victim to the past few months. The sudden change of power at the top of the fire nation wasn't exactly smooth due to the emergence of the 'New Ozai Society', a group formed to reinstate Ozai back on the throne. It was taking the toll on both of them, they were spending more time keeping the fire nation from falling apart than they did anything else. Zuko, not receiving a reply from Aang, slowly walked forward,
"Aah Spirits!" Aang cursed, clearly frustrated about being interrupted while meditating. He had grilled multiple messengers and servants over this. He turned around sharply and instantly calmed as he saw who had interrupted him, "Sorry Zuko, did you say something?"
"I was just asking whether I could have a word with you about something that's been on my mind,"
"Sure," Aang motioned for Zuko to sit next to him. Zuko obliged. He seemed rather nervous, whatever he was wanting to talk about it was playing on his mind. He sat next to Aang, quietly firebending a small spherical flame in between his hands,
"I've never really had the chance to properly speak to you about all the stuff that has been going on since the war ended. I feel it has just been burning up inside of me, and I have never found the right time to talk,"
"It has with me too, it is one of the reasons why I have been completely unable to enter the spirit world since. I so nearly went against everything I lived by, and for a few minutes I had zero control over the avatar state, I think I still struggle to live with it. I have now realized that Avatar Roku and the other avatars lived in a completely different world to me, and while I value their opinions and they are still very helpful, I now know that it should be for the most part me and me only that makes a serious decision like that."

Zuko's tense face finally relaxed, and he lent back and looked upwards. A flock of birds was circling each other, round and round. As he looked closer, it became obvious that the bird in front had a large piece of bread and the rest were desperately trying to steal it. It was a perfect metaphor for what was going on in the world, world leaders still had an extremely large share of the wealth and commodities, Zuko made a mental note of this. "Thanks, Aang, it means a lot. How have you been coping since in general? I've noticed that you haven't been the usually bright and bubbly person you usually are?"
"I don't know what it is, to be honest. I guess I just look at things from a different angle now. I used to be so naive and oblivious to how serious things were. Even after the fight with Ozai, I hadn't fully grasped what was going on around me, it's only after all these attacks that I've begun to see that it isn't about a fight between good and evil. People often tend to do what they think is right, which isn't always what is best for the world. What I need to do is rather than dictate, I need to guide people's judgment to prevent things before they start. I often feel overwhelmed by it all when I sit down and think about it."
"I think we both need to just keep ourselves busy, if I sit and dwell on it I don't think I'll get back up! I've got a great idea, I need to go help Iroh out with some of his new tea recipes, maybe it might do us some good if we both go?"
"How could I say no?"

Meanwhile, Toph had just had enough with her new metal-bending school. She could not understand why nobody seemed to be able to grasp it. If she could invent it while being kidnapped in a metal box surely other people could get it with months of training? She certainly needed a break, maybe if the school was disbanded for a few months or so she could come back with a fresh mind and hopefully things might work. Oh, how I miss flying on Appa, this is so uncomfortable, Toph was traveling back to Ba-Sing-Se and was looking forward to seeing Aang and Zuko again. Compared to her and the two water tribe siblings they had been much busier, reorganizing all of the fire nation colonies was no small task and she missed being able to knock some heads together. She had sent a letter a day before to them complaining about everything and challenged Aang to an earth-bending battle. She missed being able to easily defeat Aang as it is now more of an equal match, even if Aang still resorted to more defensive tactics.

Aang and Zuko were just about to start the second round of tea tasting when a messenger hawk promptly flew into the door, literally. Feeling rather sorry for itself, it hobbled towards Zuko. Aang chuckled as the bird proceeded to sulk its way out of the door. "Great news Aang! Toph is on her way back to Ba-Sing-Se!" Iroh overheard the conversation and smiled broadly. Ever since Iroh and Toph met after Toph abandoned the group after an argument with Katara, the two had grown rather inseparable. Toph shared the same passion for tea as he did and was always suggesting new recipes, something he was very grateful for.

"Aang? I'm probably being paranoid as per usual but there hasn't been a major attack for nearly a month and I have a bad feeling something is going to happen soon,"
"You are probably right, I've been thinking the same thing. But the worst thing is that we cannot do anything to prepare for it, I just hope we are in the right place at the right time. Unless we suddenly find out more information there is no point in contemplating it further," Their serious conversation was cut off by Iroh, who had a large pot of rather green looking tea.
"Are you ready for the first round of tea?" Iroh beamed,
"What do we have first, Uncle?"
"An unusual blend of dragon flower and mint, I have to say I think this might work!"
"The aroma is a little off-putting I must say," Aang said cautiously as he poured the greenish liquid down his throat. He thought back the urge to gag and spit it out. Zuko, on the other hand, wasn't as respectful, spraying Aang and the table in a spray of green droplets.
"No Iroh, that isn't going to work whatsoever!" cried Aang, laughing hysterically. He bent all the droplets of tea, before morphing it into a ball and firing it out of the window.

Toph arrived at their apartment early the next morning. Nearly breaking down the door, she screamed "Twinkletoes! Firelord Hotmen! Wake up and let's go!" Within minutes she had both of them, still half asleep, in front of the house. "Let's go for a walk, shall we? We have a lot of catching up to do!"
"Can't you give us just 5 minutes to fully wake up?" Yawned Zuko,
"Without us two girls around you two have got lazy, let's go!"

They decided to take a long walk across the palace gardens, Toph had spent the past 15 minutes complaining about how boring her life was in the past six months, and was wishing she could do what they were doing constantly, "Trust me, you don't want to. You have no idea how hard it is to have a diplomatic conversation with..." Aang was cut short by the blaring sound of a tsungi horn off in the distance, Toph instinctively dropped to the floor, touching the ground with her left hand. She could see multiple people running towards them from all angles, "IT'S AN AMBUSH!" Toph yelled...

Aang and Zuko turned around to form a defensive circle. There was no time to find a better spot to defend, they were in a dip in the garden so they could not see their assailants. For about 10 seconds nothing happened, only the sound of each other's adrenaline-fueled heavy breathing. Then, 12 hooded figures, 4 on each of the 3 sides jumped over the horizon in a combination of water and firebending. They all hesitated briefly, taken aback by the presence of the waterbenders. Until now, all of the New Ozai forces they had faced had been firebenders. Aang scrambled to form a makeshift shield as the first round of fire was flung their away, allowing the 3 to gather their bearings and develop a strategy to attack. Toph was the first to make a move, with a rather unusual war cry, catapulting 3 of the benders on her side at least 20 meters into the air. The waterbenders were quick to react, catching their fall using the nearby fountain despite Zuko's attempts to counteract. Zuko then sent out a wave of fire at about knee height, the water benders simultaneously counteracted with their waves of water.

Leaving the avatar state as a last resort, Aang yet again had to block a simultaneous blast from most of the benders. The assailants were trying to take Aang out before he did this. However, as obvious as it was that he needed, Aang still did not enter it, which proved to be a bad decision. The fire was suddenly redirected to an unaware Toph. Aang saw this and leaped in front of her, deflecting the majority of the fireball backward, while absorbing the rest. He didn't have time to react to the pain as another jet of fire was blasted his way. His body, sensing imminent danger to life, jumped into the avatar state. Knowing Aang would do this, a flanking firebender fired an explosive volley in Aang's direction, who was facing the opposite way and transitioning. This time, the full force of the explosion hit Aang, sending him flying forwards into the steep hill. Zuko and Toph could only look on as Aang was blasted straight into the path of a water-bender, who sent shards of ice flying into him. Zuko and Toph followed this moment of concentration on Aang by knocking out an impressive 4 benders in a collaborative effort, Toph sent all 4 of them flying into the air into the path of Zuko's angry inferno.

Seeing this extreme show of force, the remaining benders could see their relatively imminent defeat. One bender who had flanked unnoticed fired a rather dangerous gust of high-pressure water towards Aang. However, Aang quickly sensed this and redirected the waterjet into a gigantic cloud of spray, visible right across Ba-Sing-Se. Multiple Tsungi horns sounded off in the distance, alerting forces in the city to the ongoing battle. Aang, in an unusual spout of lack of control, lifted a large boulder, before breaking it into small pellets and firing it down onto the benders, who by now were retreating hastily.

Aang knew he had been badly injured but couldn't yet feel the effects. As he let go of his control of the avatar state, he felt himself starting to blackout. The last thing he heard was Toph earth-bending to break his fall.

AUTHORS NOTE: For those of you who are squeamish skip past these next two paragraphs.

Apart from a few cuts, bruises and burns, Zuko and Toph were relatively unharmed thanks to Aang. The same couldn't be said for Aang however. The first explosion left extensive cuts on his back. Whatever skin that was left on his back was blackened and shredded. Ice shards had also struck Aang's front, resulting in deep cuts that were bleeding rather rapidly out onto the ground. He came out of the avatar state unconscious, which was probably for the better. The Dai Li that were signaled by the Tsungi horn's burst onto the scene, surprised to find that the fight was over. Small fires had broken out across the palace garden and Toph had completely ripped up the majority of the surrounding area.

Aang was beginning to regain some consciousness, he was lying in a shallow puddle, which later became obvious it was out of his blood rather than water. He could barely see or hear anything; the majority of his senses were blocked by the searing pain shooting around his body. Raising his hand, he managed to pull some water out of the nearest fountain and sent it crashing out over him. The last thing he remembered before passing out again was the hands of about 4 Dai Li agents lift him to carry him away.

"Morning Pakku!" Katara called out to the new member of the family, she had just been out. Appa heard Katara's voice from his stable behind the house and roared in appreciation.
"Good morning Katara," Pakku called back as he walked down the stairs.
"Is Gran-Gran feeling better today?" Gran-Gran's poor health was the reason why Katara and Sokka were down in the Southern Water Tribe. She was getting old and she needed to be cared for. Pakku was often helping out their father, Chief Hakoda, with the day to day affairs that a rapidly expanding village entailed, Leaving Katara and Sokka to care for her mostly on their own.
"I think she is over the worst of this illness now, I think she is going to make tonight's dinner!"
Sokka's ears pricked at the sound of food, "Ooh, that would be awesome!"

News quickly spread about the gigantic battle in Ba-Sing-Se. The next morning Katara and Sokka were eating breakfast when Chief Hakoda ran into the house out of breath,
"Dad? You're never home at this time, what's wrong?" Sokka inquired,
"Pack your bags and come immediately! No time to explain!"
As they ran for the Dock, Hakoda had explained further. "From what I know, Aang, Toph and Zuko were attacked by a large group of the New Ozai Society, while they were victorious Aang was badly injured,"
"But what about Gran-Gran?" Sokka asked
"Forget her, we can care for her, Aang needs you much more... Katara? You alright?" Katara had blanked out what her dad was saying. The last time he got hurt he was killed! I was there for him last time but what about now? Sensing the reason for Katara's lack of reply he carried on," thanks to Aang, Zuko and Toph were mostly unharmed."
Katara and Sokka jumped into the boat. De-mooring the boat Hakoda called out "Don't rush to come back! And write often!".
Katara began waterbending behind the boat, increasing their speed rapidly as they left the harbor.