After a long period of careful planning and several scrapped drafts, I have finally been able start writing and posting this fic!

This has been my project for a long time now and I am so excited to finally share it with you all! For anyone who may have read some of my other fics, fear not! This is not a one-shot and I am truly intending on finishing this story. I have the entire first part completely planned out. I will say now that updates will be extremely irregular, as I am just about to enter my last year of college, and thus, exams are my main priority. So if I go silent for a while, it's probably because I'm questioning and regretting my life choices.

Editing of previous chapters may also occur, mostly due to the fact that I'm never truly satisfied with all of my work.

But anyway! Most people probably haven't read this and now I'm just rambling on. So, without further ado, thank you for reading and welcome to Hiraeth-Part 1: The Weight of What We Owe.

For one hundred years, the world had stood still.

The earth stood strong, the wind still howled, the tides shifted and fires continued to blaze. But there was also the profound sense that something was missing.

Of course, everyone knew what it was. The imbalance of the world was so evident that no one who could sense it didn't realise what it meant. There was a gaping hole where the bridge between both the mortal and spiritual realms should be, and as long as it should remain empty, the sky would only continue to darken with ash and corruption.

The Avatar was missing, and no one knew where they had gone.

Some believed that the cycle had ended when the Air Nomads had been slaughtered, the spirits abandoning them to allow their world to continue to burn around them. But the spirits also did not know where the Avatar had gone, and many began to fall into despair and depravity.

Those who supported the Fire Lord were glad for the Avatar's disappearance, and they spread whispers that it was the greatness of their nation that had smothered the Avatar's spirit, preventing them from ever challenging the Fire Lord.

But whatever the real reason for the Avatar's disappearance was, it was universally known that without them, the world would never be the same.

Fire and Earth waged an endless battle against each other, neither one yielding to the other as soot and stone fell from the sky. In the South, white snow was dyed red and black with the blood and tears of innocents, leaving only one Waterbender untouched. The North stayed secluded and silent, living with as much freedom as they could gain from their safe haven. The Air temples remained hollow, filled only with overgrown plants and broken skeletons.

For one hundred years the world continued to hold its breath, waiting for the day when things would finally start to change…

{~}

When the iceberg finally split, the two Water Tribe siblings weren't the only ones to notice.

The earth shifted, the air began to sing, the ocean rippled and fires flickered. Many felt the change, but most didn't know what it meant.

An old general- now a mere wanderer- looked up in astonishment as he sensed something abnormal happen within the world. He had only recently returned from his journey to the Spirit World, but already he felt a stronger connection to it than most others ever would. He knew not what might have caused such a disturbance, and could only hope that it signified change.

A good change.

To the distant North, a girl with snow white hair and healing hands looked out across the icy waters as a deep sense of longing suddenly hit her. She felt as if she had forgotten something extremely important but could not seem to recall any details of what it was. She frowned and brushed her hand against where her dagger was hidden beneath her furs.

Should the feeling not go away, she resolved to go visit the Spirit Oasis again later.

Within the heart of the Fire Nation, a Prince gazes out of a window, his father's sword gripped tightly in his hand, as it often is nowadays.

The unnatural chill that had settled within him over the past few years had only grown more and more uncomfortable, and it left a deep weariness in his bones. He did not know what caused him to pause in his steps and glance outside towards where the palace walls lay, only that something felt… off. He huffed and shook his head, shoving all those feelings aside as he continued on his path.

Whatever it was, it probably wasn't important.

Nearby, upon the training grounds, a girl whose flames normally blazed a bright blue flickered red and orange for only a moment. She paused, confused at what she might have done differently to cause such a thing. When she summoned the fire again, it was back to its natural azure, and thus decided to carry on with her training. She likely just imagined it.

Unseen by anyone, the flames that usually burned eternally bright within the large throne room extinguished completely, plunging the large hall into darkness. When the council gathered together much later, the flames burned once again.

No one wanted to comment about how they weren't as bright as they usually were.

Spirits in both worlds knew exactly what had happened.

Many began to rejoice. Others fled. Most… started to wait.

It had been far too long since an Avatar had been able to bridge the gap between mortals and spirits, and none knew how it would be handled now. Would this Avatar be more spiritually inclined, like Yangchen? Or would they prefer to sort out mortal affairs first, like Kyoshi? Or would they bring ruin once again, like Kuruk? This Avatar might be like previous Avatars, or perhaps nothing like them at all.

But until everything could be made clear, all they could do was wait.

The spirit felt it when the Avatar returned.

A sense of dread and anticipation overcame him, as was usual when a new Avatar came. But this time, it felt like something so much more, like everything had been leading up to this moment. It could have been the amount of time between this Avatar and the last, or maybe it was something… else.

But along with that feeling also came the words: Not yet.

There was no distinctive voice, only seeming to echo from nowhere and everywhere. He wasn't sure what exactly it was referring to, and thus elected not to pay too much attention to it for now. Maybe he was finally going senile in his old age and had just begun to start hearing nonexistent voices in his head. Great.

Thus, until the Avatar started to do Avatar stuff, the spirit would continue on his own way.

Besides, he'd spent far too long chasing after that stupid bird only to give up now.

After being told to go patrol around the territory of the Southern Watertribe, the last thing Zhao expected to find was the Avatar.

Yet here he was, soaked to the bone with freezing water and standing on a half wrecked ship as he watched the Avatar escape. It wasn't the finest moment in his life, but the absolute glee at his discovery alone was enough to allow him to keep grinning.

He turned to address one of his shocked soldiers. "Send a message to the Fire Lord: The Avatar has returned."

Chapter 1 will be up soon!

Thank you for reading and please don't forget to comment!