A Stitch in Time on the Loom of Fate
Chapter 1
So, this is my attempt at an Avatar Time Travel fic. This fic is based on A Second Chance, by araluen_x.
First of all, this fic does not follow much of the canon given in LoK involving Raava and Vaatu. It didn't feel natural to me and, since this is my fic and we won't even encounter them in any shape or form until LoK anyway, then I'm not going to include that piece of the lore. Instead, I'm sticking with the fact that since a bridge between spirit and the human world is needed, the avatar was created to be that bridge by being a merging of the avatar spirit of the world, and a human soul, which allows for the reincarnation and multi elemental bending and working from there.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender
Sozin's Comet had arrived.
The Earth Kingdom was burning.
And here, in the midst of this chaos, the Avatar and the Phoenix King were battling to decide the fate of the Hundred Year War. The battle had been going badly for Avatar Aang, with Phoenix King Ozai having dominated the majority of the fight. Taking advantage of the boost to his Firebending that the Comet gave him and Aang's unwillingness to deliver a fatal blow, he had forced the young Avatar onto the defensive during their clash. That is, until a blast of fire from Ozai pushed Aang into a stone spike that speared a scar on his back and unlocked his Chi pathways, allowing him to activate the Avatar State and turn the tide.
From there, the tide of battle shifted drastically as Aang used his newfound power and mastery of the four elements to push Ozai back, forcing the Phoenix King to flee until he found himself cornered atop a stone spire. His fear grew as the Avatar bound his hands and feet in stone with a simple motion and declared his intent to strike him down, the voices of his past lives overlaying his own to indicate just how much trouble Ozai was in now, but just as the final blow was to be struck, Aang stopped.
"No," said the boy as he forced the spirits of his past lives back and regained control over his body, "I'm not gonna end it like this."
To Ozai's amazement, the rocks binding his limbs fell away and he realized that the boy facing him was still unwilling to end his life.
Snarling, Ozai gathered fire within himself and wiped away his sweat and said with a growl, "Even with all the power in the world, you are still weak!"
Lunging forward to deliver a powerful fire blast, the Phoenix King was caught off guard when Aang used his Seismic Sense to track his movements and caught his arm in a column of stone without turning around. Continuing his movements, Aang trapped Ozai's other hand as well and pulled them downwards to hold the Phoenix King prone as he placed one hand on his forehead and the other on his heart.
As he was held there, helpless and immobile, Ozai felt a strange sensation within him, as if a foreign presence was intruding upon his inner fire, causing him to push back, trying to overwhelm this intrusion. As this internal battle went on, Aang's face twisted with concentration as he focused on feeling the energy within Ozai and himself, and that was when it suddenly went wrong.
"NO!" yelled out Aang as the spirits of the past Avatars tried to assert themselves once again to end the war their way, the young Avatar's concentration slipping as he tried to force them back. "I won't end thing's like this!"
Feeling an opportunity, Ozai pushed outwards with his inner fire, slamming his will into that of the past Avatar's and Aang's causing an explosion of light to erupt from the point where Aang's hands met Ozai's body.
xXsceneXx
Deep within the Spirit World, deeper than anyone or anything has ever traveled in living memory, lies the domain of a great and ancient Spirit. This domain lies detached from the human world, even existing outside of time itself, and is the home of one of existence's greatest secrets. For within this area of the Spirit World, lives one of the most powerful Spirits in all of existence: The Great Weaver, the Spirit of Time.
Within its domain, the Spirit of Time would sit before the Loom of Fate, weaving the Tapestry of Reality out of the various Threads of Fate connected to all those that live, and it was doing this work, that the Spirit first encountered the fallout of Aang's failed attempt to Energybend Ozai. Before the spirit's eyes, several threads woven into the tapestry began to glow brightly and unravel from the tapestry, causing a chain reaction that began to unravel the entire tapestry itself. Working quickly, the Great Weaver isolated the threads responsible for this, and used several adjacent threads with significant connections before the unraveling to re-weave the tapestry from an earlier point, stopping the unraveling of reality, but not before events had to be reset back to an earlier point on the tapestry.
And from there, is where we begin.
xXsceneXx
It was a normal day in the South Pole for siblings Katara and Sokka. In another time, they were two skilled members of Team Avatar that fought against the Fire Nation and its military on several fronts, but that was in a time that had yet to unfold. Here, they were just two children from the Southern Water Tribe that had gotten into a misadventure while out fishing. The stress had started to get to them, leading to a heated argument that in turn led to Katara's untrained skill with Waterbending revealing a strange round iceberg floating in the water. Upon inspecting the glacial anomaly, the Water Tribe siblings realized that there was a figure frozen within, and not only that, he was still alive!
"We have to help him!" exclaimed Katara upon the revelation, grabbing her brother's whalebone club and smashing away at the iceberg.
"Katara, wait!" yelled Sokka, but it was already too late. Katara's borrowed weapon smashed through the outer layer of the ice, causing a wave of energy to erupt from it, knocking the two Water Tribe siblings over as a pillar of light shot towards the heavens, causing an aurora borealis to form over the group for a moment. As the sky returned to normal, the duo gasped for air as they tried to regain their bearings as the figure from the iceberg shakily climbed to his feet and frantically looked around, before zeroing in on the water tribe siblings.
"Katara? Sokka? What's going on?"
xXsceneXx
Some distance away, yet still within the waters of the Southern Pole, a small Fire Nation cruiser floated alone amidst the ice. The crew of said ship was in a frantic state, as, upon seeing the pillar of light and being washed over by the wave of Spiritual Energy, the Commanding Officer of the cruiser had collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as if he had just come out of a several hours long Agni Kai.
"Prince Zuko?" exclaimed the ship's other Flag Officer, General Iroh, formerly known as the Dragon of the West, as he rushed over to the fallen teen's side, "Are you alright?"
"Uncle?" asked Zuko hesitantly as he brought his hand to his temple to stem the building headache, only to be surprised at the smooth skin he felt atop his head, "What's going on? Where are we?"
"Prince Zuko," said Iroh, "we are still at the South Pole, searching for the Avatar."
"The South Pole?" said Zuko in surprise, "Uncle, what year is this?"
Iroh looked at him strangely, but answered nonetheless, "It is three years since you set out on your journey to find the Avatar, Prince Zuko. Are you sure you are well? Maybe you should retire to your quarters and get some rest?"
"No," said Zuko, "I'm fine, but we need to set sail for the South Pole. It's very important."
"As you wish, Prince Zuko," said Iroh with a sigh before signaling for the helmsman to change course.
"However," said Zuko once the helmsmen had received the order, "I am feeling a bit tired. Uncle, would it be too much if we could share a pot of Jasmine tea?"
Iroh blinked in surprise, having never expected his nephew to ever make a request like that, but eventually smiled and went to his quarters on the ship to fetch his kettle."
Meanwhile, Zuko looked over the ocean towards where the light had come from, and a smile appeared on his face. But not a sinister or arrogant one, a gentle smile, that had within it, joy, and hope.
'I'll see you guys soon.'
xXsceneXx
"So let me get this straight," said Sokka as he and Katara tried to get a handle on what had happened since they released Aang from the iceberg and suddenly got hit with a bunch of memories from a time that was long ago and yet far away, "the last thing you remember is fighting the Fire Lord and the next thing you know, there's a bright light and you're waking up here, back in the iceberg?"
"Yeah," said Aang hesitantly, leaving out his trouble with the Avatar State and Energybending, "I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it can't be time travel, right?"
"Well," said Katara as she thought about it, "considering what we've seen across our travels, is it really that far-fetched? I mean, we've seen what Spirits can do when provoked, and the Avatar is supposed to be the bridge between Humans and Spirits, so isn't it possible something happened when Aang fought the Fire Lord when he was empowered by Sozin's Comet?"
"Katara makes a good point," said Sokka as he pulled a whale tooth saber out of his bag, "besides, I haven't had this weapon since Zuko broke it in our first fight. If that's not proof that we've traveled back, I don't know what is?"
"So, we're really back in the past?" asked Aang, "What about the comet?"
"Well, if we're correct, then the comet won't arrive until summer next year," said Sokka, "so we have plenty of time to prepare. Plus, with our future knowledge, we'll totally beat the Fire Nation this time around. Heck, we might even be able to do it before the comet arrives."
"Sounds like a plan to me," said Aang with a smile, hope returning to him as he realized he wouldn't have to face the comet empowered Phoenix King again.
"Come on," said Katara, "let's get back to the village. Gran-Gran must be worried sick."
xXsceneXx
Thankfully, it seemed that Katara and Aang's skill with Waterbending had returned to the past with them, which made sense as bending was mostly an application of mentality along with physical techniques and forms which they had not forgotten, and thus they were able to make it back to the village in short order by bending the obstacles in the frozen waters out of their way, whilst also bending the water under them to speed them along. Because of this, the group soon arrived at the Southern Water Tribe where Sokka and Katara's Gran-Gran was waiting for them.
"Sokka, Katara," said Kanna of the Water Tribe, "we saw the light. What has happened?"
"It's…complicated," admitted Katara as she hopped out of the canoe and hugged her grandmother, "but we're ok now."
"I am glad," said Kanna as she embraced her granddaughter before turning to regard Aang, "and who is this? He was not with you when you left the tribe."
"Gran-Gran," said Sokka, "this is Aang. We rescued him when we found him trapped in an iceberg."
"Is that so?" mused Kanna as she regarded the bald pre-teen curiously. "Your clothes are odd for one this far South. They are reminiscent of ones I've seen in old scrolls depicting the Air Nomads."
"Really?" said Aang nervously. "Ah…well, I didn't really notice."
Kanna waved off his concerns. "Do not worry, child. I trust my grandchildren's judgment, but let's get you something a bit warmer to wear over those robes, and maybe some food as well. I just finished a nice pot of Sea Prune Stew. Let us all retire to my Igloo and we can have some."
"Ah, great," said Aang weakly, trying to be polite, as he had never learned to enjoy the Water Tribe delicacy.
Little did they know that they weren't the only ones to have returned.
And no, I don't mean Zuko…
