Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA. This is my second AtLA fic, and again it's a Kataang genderswap (a glance at my profile and you'll see that I have a pattern). This one isn't a roleswap, however.
Now, I want to clarify something. I like Zuko. He's a good character, and there's nothing quite like a good redemption arc. But oh. My. God. The amount of 'Spirit!Zuko', 'Avatar!Zuko' and 'The Spirits love Zuko, he's the real hero of the War' fics there are make me want to scream and pull my hair out, especially because some of them would be really good if not for the overused plotline. While I like Zuko, I honestly don't think he'd be a good Avatar. Not if he was kept in character. And I just outright prefer Aang. I hate the way so many Zuko fans make Aang a weak side character at best to make Zuko seem better. It's unfair to them both. I'm always looking for stories with Aang as the main character, but so many are either abandoned or just very short.
So, because I'm on holiday with nothing to do but write, wanted a story with more active spirits where the actual hero/Bridge-Between-Worlds is favoured by the Spirits, and I'm in a mood with the amount of Zuko fics, I have produced this one. Zuko and Azula are both dead, but Lu Ten is alive. Certain characters from LOK will be mentioned (obvs born into different circumstances with different personalities, etc).
There will be little influence from LOK however, because pretty much the only thing about that I liked was the Wan/Raava story. The way they made Aang a crap father, Korra's general personality/stupidity/everything, how they pretty much erased the Avatar entirely by destroying the past Avatars and the Bridge-Between-Worlds, the way they ruined the uniqueness of energybending by having bloodbending be able to cut off a person from their bending, literally everything really, pissed me off so much. So please don't bother asking will this thing from LOK or that person be part of it, okay? Chances are, it ain't gonna happen. I watched until the second season, then I just could not bear it anymore, I was too annoyed by it all (I take my shows/books seriously).
BTW, the month names are the Chinese phenological names for months, but they follow the Gregorian calendar because the lunisolar one was impossible for me to understand. I'll also be posting a separate 'fic' with some background info (i.e, Clan names, Gods, a sort of dictionary-type thing, months/holidays, locations, etc). (Angakkuq/it is the term for shaman in Inuktitut. Atta is 'Father', Aana is 'Mother', and an amauti is a special parka worn by Inuit women to carry their infants in and allow them to breastfeed without having to expose the baby to the cold)/
Also, I urge literally everyone who is a fan of AtLA to read TheLightDancer's series "By Fire and Water, Earth and Air" on AO3. The best AtLA series/story in existence, seriously, no matter who your favourite character is. No joke, it's amazing.
Anyway, all that in mind, I really hope people read, enjoy and review this story!
Chapter One
The Return of the Avatar
Spirit World: 22 júyuè (Sep, Aut); 99 AG
It was rare for the Great Spirits to congregate together on any occasion. Rarer still for them to do so of their own accord, and not by order of Raava's Champion. Yet, on the autumn equinox in the 99th year since the start of the Great War, they gathered. No longer could they afford to wait. Even waiting until the Winter Solstice in a few weeks was too far away. A hundred years was scarcely the bat of an eyelash to an immortal Spirit, but it was generations for the humans they patronized, and the situation in the Material Realm was now too desperate for them to continue to linger.
By the end of the coming summer, Agni's Great Comet would again return. The Spirits had foreseen that the current Fire Lord, Ozai, would use it to end the war and wipe out any remaining resistance against him. If his plan was a success, the whole world would burn. The Balance, already fragile after decades of constant war, would be destroyed, the Veil ripped asunder, and the Dark spirits freed from their prisons. It would initiate a new Convergence, and this time Raava and her Champion would not be present to battle their most ancient foe. No, no longer could the gods afford to wait for the Avatar to return on her own. They had to act, and they had to act now.
And so, on the arrival of the autumn equinox, the Great Light Spirits, Agni, Pehar, Tui, La and Prithvi, all gathered in the Spirit World, peering through the Veil created by the First Avatar, Wan, to separate the two worlds. They could see the young Avatar within the magical iceberg she had created in a desperate attempt to preserve her current life and the life of her animal guide amid a brutal, spirit-induced storm after she was forced to flee the Great Slaughter of the Air Nomads a human century prior. Her injured body was folded into a lotus meditation pose and her airbending tattoos glowed with Raava's bright light, fists pressed together, and eyes shut. She was preserved exactly as she had been when she and her sky bison were knocked from the sky by a bolt of lightning and into the depths of a raging ocean, wounds from the attack and all.
The Great Spirits waited in silence for the arrival of twilight. The equinox weakened the Veil, already delicate after years without an Avatar to tend it, enough for them to affect the physical world, and twilight, when both Agni and Tui would be equally empowered, was the best time for them to act. They were all needed, for Raava's power outstripped theirs by far, and it was all the more powerful when used by an unrealized Avatar, as yet unable to control their own spiritual strength.
"Are we prepared?" Agni asked. The Light God of Fire had three heads, four arms, a red complexion with golden-brown hair and eyes reminiscent of his flames. A human would have labelled both his tone and expressions as grim, though the emotions of spirits were different to those of mortals. Only the Avatar was capable of understanding that fully, however, and grave was as close a description as a mortal could comprehend.
"Yes," Pehar agreed. The Wind Spirit was in his bird shape. He appeared larger than most buildings, though not as large as a castle would be, with a beautiful plumage of dark blue and white, four magnificent wings, one for each of the cardinal points where his different winds came from, and stormy grey eyes akin to those of his lost Chosen with a beak and talons of silver. His human form looked like that of a four-armed human man with features like those of his lost children, save that his skin remained blue and he had four arms. "It is past time my Mother-Daughter returns."
As Host of Raava, the Greatest and First of the Light Spirits who had brought the rest into existence, the Avatar was the Mother of them all, as her male counterparts were considered to be their Father. But as an Air Nomad, the current Avatar was also Pehar's Daughter, the only surviving Child of the Winds. The last alive who remembered her people's ways. All others who survived the ruthless and merciless genocide of their kin had assimilated into the other nations and cast aside their culture in favour of them, so as to save themselves. The Great Sky Spirit understood why they had felt it necessary to hide their heritage even from their own children and grandchildren, but it continued to pain him. He had pinned his hopes of his chosen people returning on her, as his brothers and sisters were relying on her to intervene and save their own people before the madness of Sozin's lineage destroyed not only the other nations, but the Fire Nation as well.
"We are ready," Tui spoke up on behalf of both herself and her husband. Both of them had the forms of koi fish, Tui white with a single black spot and La the reverse, and swam in circles in the air, never pausing their eternal dance of 'push and pull' from which their own Chosen had learned to bend the sea. They had not taken different forms since before the Division, unlike their fellow Spirits who often changed forms as easily as mortals changed cloaks.
Prithvi was the last to confirm her preparedness. She looked like a human woman, but one made entirely of earth, with brown skin resembling dirt even in texture. Her eyes were grass green without either pupils or irises, and her hair resembled a waterfall of sand, with a dress of flowers styled like those of her noble subjects who resided in the court of the great city that the mortals called Ba Sing Se. Her appearance was as diverse as the earth itself. "I am ready also," she affirmed in her gentle yet powerful voice. "Let us return Raava and her Champion to the world."
As one, they began to glow, the whole earth and everyone on it sensing something as the Gods combined their power and directed it against the iceberg in which the Avatar was sealed. In the Material World, it seemed as if both Sun and Moon shined together, their combined light so strong several were blinded by the sight. All could feel the earth shaking, the winds whipping so harshly that dozens of different boats and ships, even the metal monsters used by the Fire Nation, were ripped apart as though they were made of parchment whilst the seas raged, though the spiritual storm had neither lightning nor thunder accompanying it.
The Southern Tribespeople were the only ones close enough to see the centre of the event. They all stared in terrified awe as a great beam of light, made up of a thousand colours no mortal language had words to describe, came down from the heavens. The pillar of light hit a part of the South Sea, and the Tribespeople fell to their knees in terrified awe at what they bore witness to. The whole world, no matter how spiritual they were, knew something had changed, but only the Gods themselves watched as the iceberg shattered into a thousand pieces beneath their combined assault and the sphere containing the young Avatar rose into the air, glowing with the power of Raava.
She remained within a protective orb of raw, solid energy, the blue and white colour akin to the glow of starlight but when the ice around it was destroyed and the orb rose to hover in the wind, her eyes snapped open. They too glowed, even brighter than the sphere which had sheltered her all these years. The glow from both increased, 'til they were so strong a human would have been blinded were they to gaze upon the scene.
Deep in a trance, the Avatar unfolded herself smoothly from her meditative pose and went into an 'X' shape, hands still curled into fists. Around her, the orb too broke, its pieces falling to dissolve into the frozen earth and ocean beneath her. From then on, that part of the already spiritual South Pole would have a deep spiritual connection to the world, and in later years people would journey from all over the world as pilgrims to visit the memorial that the Southerners would later erect there in honour of the Saviour of the World after she put an end to the Hundred Years' War.
For now, however, Avatar Asha of the Eastern Air Temple floated down to the ice, levitating her bison down gently with her. Once she was standing on solid ground, the glow finally faded from her eyes and tattoos, save for the flecks of white and blue that speckled the eyes of all Avatars, a faint hint to the presence of the Great Spirit they carried within them. Now released from the Avatar State, the young airbender swayed on her feet for a moment, a bemused and dazed expression on her face, before her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she collapsed, her chi exhausted by literal years of constant usage of the Avatar State to sustain both her life and that of her animal companion.
Finally, after almost an entire century of chaos and bloodshed, the Keeper of the Balance had returned to the world.
(Material World) SWT capital, South Pole: 22 júyuè (Sep, Aut); 99 AG
Unlike their Northern kin, who lived in the ice fortress of Agna-Qel with a few small villages surrounding it and consisted of a single tribe larger the entire population of the South at their height, the collection of Southern Water Tribes were nomadic. The ten clans (once fifteen before the Great War had wiped out more than a third of their people) that made up the collective Southern Water Tribe wandered the glaciers and waters of the South Pole at their leisure, going where their feet and the game they hunted for food and furs led them.
However, they did have a single city made of ice, right in the centre of the Pole. It was named Illu Aksarpok, meaning 'Strong Home', and was a sprawling citadel made of ice in the traditional Water Tribe style. The Water Temple, known as Higalik or the 'Ice House', was in the very centre, housing the judicial, secular and spiritual seats of the South. It also hosted the grand apartment reserved for the Tulku and their family, though they had been untouched since Avatar Roku's last visit to the south during one his final progress on his dragon Fang, a scant two months prior to his abrupt death. Due to its position and architecture, the Southern city was one of the safest places in the world. Never had the Holy City of the South as it was known due to the presence of the Higalik, been breached by outside enemies.
Not even the Fire Nation had managed to reach Illu Aksarpok, despite ten decades of war and many attempts. It was too deep within the South to be reached even with their metal monsters of ships, or the horrible airships they poisoned the atmosphere with. Further, the entire city was shielded by a dome that expanded out from the diamond topping the Temple. It covered the entire city and gave the city the appearance of being a giant igloo. The city had been made by Avatar Saghani, the Water Avatar who had aided the first settlers who left the North in establishing themselves in the South Pole and granted them their independence from Northern rule.
Like the Great Walls protecting the Inner Ring of Ba Sing Se and the one surrounding Agna-Qel, the dome was made by the power of an Avatar. Although it appeared to be made of ice, everyone knew there was something else to it. Something not of this world that drew power from the Spirit Portal hidden deep beneath the Higalik itself, accessible only to a fully realized Avatar. Combined with the deep moat surrounding Illu Aksarpok, its dark waters hiding the sharp ice spikes jutting up lethally beneath them, with only a single drawbridge that was opened from the inside and only allowed at most two men to walk alongside one another, and the Southern capital was impenetrable, the safest place in the Pole.
The city was held by a different tribe every year, changing at the Winter Solstice. Every tribe took a turn holding it, and there could not be a repeat until such time as all the others had held it once more. The vote as to who would hold it next took place on the Winter Solstice and it was handed over on the last day of the year. Although only one of the tribes lived there at a time, for the fortnight of every holy day all the tribes gathered in the capital together to honour the Spirits, celebrate the current festival and so that the chiefs could update each other on their tribes' statuses and discuss any problems in person.
Since the War, the festivities had gotten smaller and less merry with every passing year as moral steadily declined alongside their population, but the Tribesmen stubbornly continued the tradition. Their people lived harsh lives, and they knew how to endure. The Fire Nation fiends had taken much from their people. The people of the South would not, however, allow them to steal this from them as well. They would not let them win without a fight.
Hakoda had been elected High Chief his third year of being Chief of the Polar Bear Dog Tribe. Although his was one of the largest remaining tribes, it was still a great and humbling surprise when Chieftainess Sesi of the Tiger Seal Tribe had nominated him when they gathered to vote for a new High Chief after Qigiq of the Buffalo Yak Tribe died from sickness. He had been utterly stunned when he had been voted into the post by a large majority of six to two, with the two candidates, himself and Chieftainess Jissika of the Polar Dog Tribe abstaining as per the requirements of the vote.
Hakoda had taken the mantle of chief young, when he was a mere sixteen years, after his father was killed by the cursed Fire Nation in a raid. When he became High Chief of the South, he was not yet twenty. He had been greatly humbled by the trust his fellow chiefs had placed in him. Even Chief Sitiyok of the Wolf Tribe had told him that he voted 'nay' purely on account of Hakoda's youth, not due to doubt in his ability. Had Hakoda been even a scant five years older, Sitiyok would have been in favour of him.
That was two decades past, and Hakoda had left behind any traces of youth and inexperience many years ago. He was now a confident and trusted chief, experienced in battle and praised as wise and cautious while still willing to do what was necessary. He was also a husband and a father of five beautiful and strong children. He tried not to recall that once it would have been seven, were it not for the accursed Fire Nation. The damned Southern Raiders, the Fire Nation naval unit that plagued the South Sea, pillaging both the Tribespeople and the coasts of the Earth Kingdom, had raided his tribe's camp six years prior and had murdered many, among them Hakoda's infant daughter Nini and his younger sister Eska, whom his second born daughter was named for. The raid and grief over their lost loved ones had also caused his wife to miscarry their unborn child. Kya had not yet even realized she was pregnant again until the blood came.
When the strange light appeared in the distance, Hakoda was leading the traditional prayers of thanksgiving to the Gods before the feast (though in truth they were far too lacking in food to label it a feast. Trade was difficult and dangerous nowadays with the Fire Navy scouring the seas, eager to murder any unfortunate enough to cross their paths, and game was beginning to dwindle, something he planned to discuss with the other chiefs at their meeting the next day).
"We give thanks to Tui and La for-" Hakoda cut himself off in shock, staring at the light and automatically grabbing the sword strapped to his side. "By the Spirits!"
There was a sudden torrent of noise as people turned to see what had drawn his attention, warriors grabbing weapons and mothers pulling their children to their chests as their minds flew to the worst-case scenario of a Fire Navy flag flapping in the distance.
They too all gasped in shock, gaping in amazement at the wonderous ray that was surely an act of the Spirits themselves. The waves began crashing wildly as both the Sun and the Moon appeared together in the sky, glowing bright enough to ruin a person's sight permanently were they to look at the sight directly. The earth, deep below the ice they stood upon, shook fiercely, as it did all throughout the world, forcing people to kneel or grab walls or the like to keep from falling. The winds were so heavy and sharp that several people with thin skin from age, sickness or hunger ended up with shallow but bloody cuts when it sliced them.
Terrified and awed, everyone fell to their knees to pray, adults tugging down children too young to understand that they were bearing witness to an act of the Great Spirits themselves. They all prayed to the Spirits, Tui, La, Amarok the Great Wolf who was Protector of the Tribes, Pinga the goddess of hunting and medicine, Sila the weather god, Akna who was the protector of children and any other Spirits they could think of for salvation and mercy.
Eventually the elements calmed, and the light disappeared. Agni was gone from the sky, and Tui was now alone in her dark, star-spotted sky, her orb no longer so bright it stung the eyes of those who gazed at it.
"High Chief," young Chief Iluliaq, the new leader of the Koalaotter Tribe spoke up in a hoarse, shaken voice. The lad was a bare fifteen, a year older than Hakoda's second son. So young he had yet to grow stubble, but his tribe had suffered a severe outbreak of illness that left him the leader after his uncle and predecessor died alongside the rest of the man's heirs. "What ought we do?"
"That was an act of the Spirits themselves," Hakoda said slowly, glancing at his mother, his tribe's shaman. She was gathered with the other shamans, Sakari, Akna, Ipiktok, Anik and Tupilek, the angakkuit all whispering urgently to one another. "And so is the territory of the shamans."
"We shall adjourn to our ritual room, High Chief," Kanna announced after consulting her fellows. "And consult the Spirits."
"Ought we continue with the feast?" Chief Sesi wondered uneasily. "I am wary of displeasing the Gods now more than ever."
"We shall," Hakoda affirmed with a determined nod. "While the angakkuit consult them, we will continue to honour the Spirits and seek their blessings. That is, if the angakkuit do not resent being absent during the celebrations."
"We do not, High Chief," Sakari, who was not only the angakkuq of the Snow Leopard Caribou Tribe, but wife of its Chief, Nunataq, stated. "As Chief Sesi has said, we must not fail to honour the Spirits, and neither ought we delay seeking Their will. Continue, and we shall return the moment we have learned what They wish of our people."
Hakoda nodded respectfully as the group hastened away. Slowly, the tribespeople returned to their previous places. He caught the eye of his wife, Kya. Their children, sixteen-year-old Sokka, fourteen-year-old Kai and their three-year-old twins, Desna and Eska, surrounded her, the twins clutching at their mother for reassurance while the elder boys sought to maintain their composure and act like the young men they were. Their youngest child, little Senna who was a mere year and a half and still swaddled in the amauti in Kya's parka, was latched to her mother's breast to soothe the infant after the frightening ordeal. Senna was not the only babe being nursed to allay the child's upset. The whole thing had been frightening for him, an experienced hunter and warrior, never mind a child too young to speak. He saw the worry in his beloved wife's eyes, and forced a comforting smile at her, though in truth he had not felt nerves such as these since his ice dodging.
"We give thanks to Tui and La for blessing us and our ancestors with Their patronage," he once again began the prayer, hoping the festivities would distract his people from their fears despite the subdued, nervous aura that had been cast over them by the strange events that had just occurred.
South Pole, 23 júyuè (Sep, Aut); 99 AG
The shamans had determined that the Spirits desired a group of Tribesmen to go to the place where the great beam had touched the ground, and so Hakoda gathered a group of twenty of the best warriors from the different tribes for the task. They left early the next morning as it was too dangerous to traverse the glacier during the night. Akna, both Chief and shaman for the Polar Leopard Tribe and Sakari, the only two of the angakkuit physically able for such things now, had also joined the group. He decided after some debate, and over the protests of his wife, to bring his two eldest sons with him as well. Both were young men, now after all. Sokka had earned the Mark of the Wise two years past after succeeding in his Ice Dodging, and Kai had earned the Mark of the Brave in his own manhood ritual two months past. Much as Kya still wished to hold them close as she had when they were babes still on her breast, as she still did with the twins and Senna, she had to learn to let them go eventually.
Hakoda shook his head, pushing away his wandering thoughts and focusing on navigating the dangerous currents, Kai carefully following his instructions, eyes narrowed in concentration as he guided the canoe through the maze of ice. His youngest son was a waterbender like Kya and the twins were. Among the last of the Southern benders, save for a pair of young sisters in Jissika's tribe. Kai had yet to take his mastery test, but Kya had privately admitted to him that there was nought more she could teach him.
Her own abilities were not the best trained, in truth. She had been young, scarcely twelve years, when the final waterbender masters of the South were taken, and had learned the rest herself from memory, scrolls, descriptions from their elders and so on. She had undertaken the mastery test herself when she felt able and had succeeded, but Hakoda knew she often doubted her abilities due to her self-study and the resultant gaps in her knowledge. Still, he was proud of her, and thought her the strongest woman alive to have managed the way she had. Thanks to her determination, the Southern style of waterbending had not died out, even if bits had been lost with their stolen masters.
"You are doing well, my son," Hakoda complimented his son, who flushed slightly but raised his chin in pride at the praise. Sokka was on another canoe with Bato, Hakoda's dearest friend and trusted second, steering it with an ore.
"Thank you, Atta," Kai murmured. "I'm improving."
"You must be ready for your mastery test soon," Hakoda mused. The man found it hard to believe so much time had passed. It seemed to that it was only yesterday his wife was presenting their second son to him and infant Sokka, now they were both men, passed their ice dodgings and proving to be great sources of pride for their family. To Hakoda's surprise, Kai's expression fell slightly at his words.
"Aana will not let me take it," he said wistfully.
Hakoda gave him a sympathetic look. "Kya worries. The loss of Nini pains us still. She dreads the children she still has being lost to her also." He prayed that none of his children ever suffered the grief of losing a babe. Especially when it was not due to the will of the Spirits, but human malice and cruelty. Even years later, that terrible day continued to haunt him. 'What ifs' still kept him awake at night, wishing he had done something differently, chosen a course that spared Nini and Eska's lives.
Kai opened his mouth to respond, but he never got the chance.
"There it is!" Akna called, pointing at what appeared to be the broken remains of an iceberg. There was a large, fur covered beast curled on it, and a smaller, human figure lay just before the animal.
"Be on guard!" Hakoda ordered the others in the group, keeping a wary eye on the beast in particular. They rowed up and surrounded the iceberg, weapons at the ready. The figure, which Hakoda could now see was a young woman in a strange type of dress, akin to those described as being worn by the bhikkhuni of the Sangha in the old days. It was perplexing, but he was certain of it, recalling the sketch of Avatar Yangchen that was hung in the gallery of the Higalik. Further, the girl (for now he saw her better, he realized she was at most Kai's age, if that) had the front half of her head shaved, the rest of her hair pulled into a multitude of braids tied tight enough to show her scalp with multiple clay beads of various colours decorating them, and blue tattoos in the shapes of arrows adorning her hands and head. That too matched the description of the women of the lost Air Nation.
Oddly, she seemed mostly untouched by the cold, despite having been lying in the snow for who knew how many hours. Tiny puffs of breath formed miniature clouds when she exhaled, and she failed to stir on their approach, perhaps too exhausted for her rest to be interrupted by their arrival.
She shifted and revealed her left side. Hakoda's keen gaze was quick to note the burn that had destroyed most of the left side of her dress, and the familiar sight of a severe burn wound marring her delicate skin. Although no healer, he was experienced enough with burn wounds to know that it would scar, even were Kya and Kai to tend it with waterbending. It seemed several days old at least, but had yet to be tended. No doubt the poor girl had been too busy escaping her would-be murderers to bandage it. He scowled, unsurprised to see that the Fire Nation, might the Soul-Gatherer Anguta drag their souls to the depths of Yama's hells, had attacked a maiden who looked to be younger than his sons.
Akna gasped as she stared at the young woman, eyes wide as shields. Hakoda had never seen the stoic and fierce woman bear such an expression. One hand came up to cover her mouth, tears welling in her blue eyes. To Hakoda's knowledge, Akna had not even wept when presented with the body of her only child after she died in childbirth with a stillborn son. He felt as if a cornerstone of the world had collapsed when he saw her expression, but clung to his own composure for the sake of their companions. Sakari seemed frozen, blue eyes locked on the girl and a dazed, hopeful expression on her delicate features. She seemed afraid to move, as if to do so would force her to awaken from some wonderful dream.
"Akna, do you sense it?" The younger angakkuq whispered.
"Aye, Sakari," she responded hoarsely. "I do. Dare we hope...?"
"Akna?" Hakoda demanded sharply, alarmed by their reactions. "Sakari? What is it? Do you know this girl? What is it you sense?"
She shook her head, attempting to regain her composure and turning to Kai. "Kai," she said. "Check her chi. Tell me what you feel. Hurry, this is important. If we are correct..." She trailed off, not saying what exactly she suspected.
"Keep her unconscious, just in case," Hakoda added to his son, who nodded in obedience.
"Should he really approach her?" Sokka objected, eyeing the unconscious girl and her animal companion with suspicion. "This could be a Fire Nation trap of some sort."
Hakoda gave a reproving frown to his eldest. "I understand your fears, my son," he began. "But take a proper look. The girl and her beast both have burn injuries, and that was fire that damaged her clothing. Likely, she was attacked by those accursed brutes in the Fire Nation and was forced to flee them. The Spirits themselves guided us here to find her. You must trust in Them. Besides, we outnumber her by far. We must be cautious, yes, but we must be compassionate also. The Fire Nation has taken much from us. They must not be allowed to take our values also."
Sokka bowed his head at the reprimand and fell silent. As Kai approached the girl, uncorking his ever-present waterskin as he did so, the rest of the group stayed quiet, watching. Anticipation was thick in the air, though none save Akna and Sakari could say for certain what it was that they were anticipating.
The large beast opened an eyelid the size of one of the twins as Kai came closer, causing the waterbender to freeze in place. A single large eye examined him, then let out a snort and closed the lid again, curling closer to its presumable mistress. Kai relaxed a fraction and knelt by the girl, hovering his hands over her as the water he was bending glowed. A puzzled expression grew on his face as he gazed at her, perplexed.
"What?" He murmured. "How is that possible?"
"What is it, my son?" Hakoda pressed, tensing. He knew better than to underestimate people based on appearances. The girl was young and apparently unconscious from her injuries, yet that did not mean she was not dangerous. She could be feigning it, preparing to attack his son. She might wake suddenly and still be the mindset of one in the midst of fighting for their life, and attack the stranger hovering above her.
"Her chakras...," Kai answered distractedly. "It is-it is so strange. She has so much chi, it is as if I am swimming in the depths of the ocean, but it is-it is entrancing Atta. It feels so amazing... And her prana-they are all so strong. I have never heard of this."
"What do you mean?" Akna pressed. She and Sakari were the only ones who had not become wary of the girl on hearing of how she much power the frail-looking girl had within her. Kai released his healing with clear reluctance. The girl had more colour in her pale complexion now, but remained asleep, breath coming with more ease now she had been at least partly healed by Hakoda's son.
"Pranas are the sources where a bender's chi gathers at the Water, Earth, Air or Fire Chakras, allowing them to bend their respective element," Kai explained, sitting back on his heels and slowly pulling his gaze away from his patient. "All people have multiple pranas, but only a bender has enough chi within their Elemental Chakra to bend it, and only one. For example, Aana, myself and my younger siblings all have active pranas in our Water Chakras, which are located in our sacrums. You all have pranas there also, as does everyone, bender or non-bender alike, but only a waterbender has an active one. The rest of our pranas are as inactive as yours."
"Alright," Hakoda nodded. "But what do you regarding the pranas of this girl?"
"She-" Kai cut himself off and shook his head in disbelief. "Father, this girl has pranas, strong ones, in each chakra. Her Air Chakra is strongest, but her Water, Earth and Fire Chakras are deep enough still I feel as though I could drown in them. And-I can hardly tell about the pranas in her Sound, Light and Thought Chakras, they are so strange. She should not even have pranas there. I had thought it impossible."
"Do you mean," Hakoda began, slowly and in disbelief. He paused, struggling to give voice to his suspicions.
Akna let out a laugh of amazement, eyes glittering unshed tears. Sakari went to her knees and began murmuring prayers of thanks to Tui and La as she wept shamelessly. Realization was dawning on the rest of the group as well, hope and doubt warring for dominance on their expressions. Dare they hope that, after over a century since the last known Avatar died, the Keeper of the Balance had returned to the world to save it and put an end to the War that had been ravaging their world since the days of his grandfather's childhood?
"Kai-are you saying this girl can bend all of the elements?"
Kai gave a shaky nod, face pale and eyes wide as the moon. He looked on the verge of going to shock, gaze returning to the bhikkuni to gaze at her in astonished reverence. Hakoda moved forward and spied the string of a pendant around the girl's neck. He pulled it out, inhaling sharply when he saw the wooden disk it was attached to.
The disk was decorated with the symbol of the Avatar. The four elements intertwined were carved into the aged wood, each painted with their signature colour. Hakoda had never seen the actual necklace before, but all the sculptures of past Water Avatars and sketches of their foreign counterparts that decorated the Temple included it. It was the ancient Avatar Amulet worn by all the legendary holders of that illustrious title.
"The Tulku has returned," Akna breathed reverently. Hakoda was not ashamed to admit that he wept like a child as a warm glow spread within his soul. He identified the unfamiliar feeling as hope. At long last, the Avatar of Mahadevi had come back to the Material World. Finally, there was a chance that the cursed Fire Nation's advance would be halted, their plans for subjugation of the Tribes and the Earth Kingdom foiled.
He had never felt such hope before in his whole lifetime.