Author's Note: Thank you guys for your reviews. They always keep me motivated to keep writing :) I have several stories going at once, which slows me down some. Also, life gets in the way, but I'll keep cranking out chapters as I can.

On a side note, I guess this is a good time to inform you guys that this tory is very likely going to turn into a Zukaang romance (not as a major plot point, but there). So...if you don't like that kind of thing fair warning. I'm not certain that it will go down that road, but it currently feels very likely.

A couple of direct replies

Stegosaurus1412- You are probably right. Things never go easily for this lot. And messing with time always has consequences. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes. ;)

Oreoschocolatechip- The crew did not see any of that interaction. They stopped their ship a good distance away, out of sight of the village so as to try and keep from scaring them, and then Zuko and Iroh made their way to the village on their own.

Warning: This capter is going to be mostly Aang explaining what happened in the show. There will be some reactions from the others of course, but it will be mostly that. Feel free to skip down below the line if you don't want to read it.

Aang

"For me, this all started over a hundred years ago..." It was clear that the entire room was hanging on his words, but Aang hardly noticed as he sunk into the story himself "I was raised at the Southern Air Temple by a monk named Gyatso. He was my mentor, my teacher, and the closest thing I had to a father. He was also one of my best friends. We'd travel everywhere together and I made lots of friends in other nations. I guess that should have been my first clue. I think he was trying to prepare me for when I would have to start training in the other elements. None of the other kids my age traveled near as much as we did." He shook his head as if to dismiss his wandering thoughts "They weren't supposed to tell me that I was the Avatar until I was sixteen, but the monks sensed that there was a threat coming so they decided to tell me a little after I turned twelve. I...didn't take it well. Especially when I found out that they planned to separate me from Monk Gyatso and send me to another temple. They thought he was going too easy on me."

He grimaced and looked away at the ice wall "So I left. I ran away. I don't really know where I was going to go, just...away from them. I was angry and scared and I didn't really understand what was going on so I felt I needed to get away. I probably would have gone back soon enough." He looked down "But that's not what ended up happening. A big storm hit out of nowhere and Appa and I were caught out in it above the ocean. It was too strong and we ended up going down. If I wasn't the Avatar we probably would have drowned. The last thing I remember from back then was us getting knocked underwater by a huge wave." He jumped slightly when Zuko's arm tightened slightly, probably trying to offer reassurance. So he flashed the older boy a small smile of thanks, noting his concerned expression, before looking back at the Water Tribe people in the room.

"The next thing I knew I was waking up after Katara broke open the iceberg I was trapped in. I had no idea that a hundred years had passed by, or what had been done to my people. I was just excited to be in the South Pole and meeting new people. I wanted to play games and forget I was the Avatar. I should have made my way to the North Pole right away, I only knew airbending, nothing else, but I didn't. Instead, I hung out here for a short time. Katara and I went penguin sledding and I convinced her to go into the old fire nation ship that is trapped in the ice near here. I accidentally set off a flare, which led Zuko and his crew right to the village. When we got back I was told I needed to leave because I was distracting Katara from her chores and drawing danger to the Tribe. But Appa was still too tired to fly so we just went off to rest on a section of ice a short way away from here. That's where I spotted Zuko's ship. I really didn't understand what was going on, but I knew that the Tribe was frightened of the Fire Nation. Katara and Sokka had told me that it had been a hundred years since the war started and that no one had seen any air nomads since then, but I didn't really take it all in. But I did understand that a Fire Nation ship heading for the village was bad news. So I rushed back here. I got here in time to see Zuko threatening the people here to try and get you all to tell him where I was, but I hadn't told you guys that I was the Avatar so it wasn't going well. So I stepped in and offered to go with him if he would leave the Tribe alone. Zuko agreed."

Aang shifted to lean more fully against his firebending friend, feeling how he was tensing beside him. "I know now that there were plenty of firebenders who would have agreed, but attacked the village anyways once they had me, but Zuko was never like that. He got me aboard his ship and we left. That might have been the end of it, but Katara and Sokka came after me on Appa. I escaped the soldiers watching me and got onto the deck around the time that they got to the ship. In the fight that came after that I ended up getting knocked into the ocean and my Avatar Spirit triggered to try and protect me. It gave us an edge and by the end of things Zuko's ship was partly buried in snow and Katara, Sokka, and I were flying away on Appa."

Aang sighed and looked away from the four people that didn't know the story that was coming, over at the wall again. "I wish I can say that we went to the North Pole then, but we didn't. Like I said, I didn't really believe what I was being told. I didn't think that Katara and Sokka were lying to me, just that they were wrong. So first we went to the Southern Air Temple, where I grew up. It was..." he grimaced and shook his head "It was bad. I found the body of Gyatso there, surrounded by the bodies of Fire Nation soldiers. Things started to settle in then and I realized that I was the last of my people."

He shook his head to try and displace the flare of grief that thinking of that moment still brought up. He didn't have time to grieve. He could do that after the war was won. "I wish I could say that we got on track after that, but we didn't. I was twelve and didn't really understand what war meant, even then. Even after seeing that it didn't sink in. It wasn't until the summer solstice that I started taking things seriously. Avatar Roku called me to a temple in the Fire Nation so he could speak with me and warn me that Sozin's comet is coming back this year. And that I had until then to master the other three elements and beat Fire Lord Ozai or he would win the war, permanently. Though it wasn't until much later that I found out exactly what that meant. The warning was enough to get us to take a more direct route to the North Pole though. We spent some time training there, but things were interrupted when the Fire Nation navy, lead by Admiral Zhao, showed up to attack the city." He could feel Zuko stiffen again at the mention of the old Admiral and reached up to put his hand on top of Zuko's. He didn't really know the history Zuko had with Zhao, but had a distinct impression that it wasn't a good one.

"Zhao had somehow gotten ahold of the information on the location of the Moon and Ocean spirits. He thought that if he killed the Moon that the Fire Nation could triumph over the Northern Water Tribe." There were obvious looks of shocked horror on every face in the room aside from Aang and Zuko.

"Hang on," Sokka cut in "He wanted to kill the moon? Is that even possible?!"

"Unfortunately, yes," Aang replied grimly "It's very possible. Because he did it." He shook his head and continued before they were able to ask any more questions "The princess there, Yue, had been given life by the moon spirit when she was very young. She sacrificed her life to bring the moon spirit back. But not before the ocean spirit took out his anger on the fire nation soldiers." He could feel the slight shudder that went through Zuko at that and he pressed more firmly against his side. He was grateful to feel Zuko tighten his grip slightly, knowing it was the older boy's attempt at reassurance. It wasn't a pleasant memory for either of them.

Aang looked over at Iroh then "General Iroh helped us out a lot during that mess, to keep Zhao from hurting the moon spirit. And he was the one who realized that Yue could help. I don't know what we would have done if he wasn't there." He shook his head again and looked back at the Water Tribe in the room "Since the ocean spirit had taken care of the remaining invasion forces all we had to do after that was clean up and help treat the injured. We stuck around for a while after that to continue training and during that time Master Paku named Katara a master waterbender and deemed her ready to continue my training as we traveled. He along with several other members of the Northern Water Tribe left about the same time as we did, saying they were going to come down here and help rebuild." He noted the surprise on Kanna's face at that, but didn't comment on it. "After that, we started trying to find me an earthbending teacher. We started off trying to contact my old friend Bumi from Omashu, but that didn't work out."

"King Bumi?" General Iroh cut in in surprise and Aang nodded.

"Yeah. I know him from back before. We were friends. But Omashu had been captured by the Fire Nation and Bumi refused to leave, saying something about needing to wait around for the right time. So we kept looking. In the end, we met a girl named Toph. She's about my age and blind, but she's probably one of the best earthbenders in the world." Zuko laughed at that.

"Don't let her hear you say that," he warned playfully before looking at the others and explaining "Toph is quite certain that she is the best earthbender in the world, period. And honestly, she might be right. She's definitely something else." Aang nodded his agreement before explaining a bit more.

"Toph may be blind, but she sees with her earthbending, probably better than most of us can see normally. She's probably one of the only reasons we survived as long as we did. She could always sense threats coming from the ground. And she could tell if people were lying. For almost anyone. The only person she couldn't get a read on was Azula." Zuko tensed again and Aang caught the sound of Iroh's sharp intake of breath. Seeing the confusion on the faces of Kanna, Sokka, and Katara he explained "Azula is the princess of the Fire Nation. She and two of her friends began hunting us around that time. They are amazing fighters and Azula isn't afraid of getting her hands dirty." He hard Zuko's bitter snort at that, but continued on "Azula was the only person that Toph couldn't get a read on if she was lying or not. No clue why."

"Azula has always been good at lying," Zuko put in bitterly "She has plenty of practice." The Water Tribe in the room looked at him in question, but Zuko waved them off "I'll explain more when Aang is finished." Sokka looked a little suspicious, but no one argued as Aang started up again.

"While we were traveling we found out about a solar eclipse that would happen later in the year. During a solar eclipse firebenders lose their bending entirely, so it was the perfect time to stage an attack. So we made our way to Ba Sing Se to try and get the Earth King's help on the attack." Aang paused before sighing "Ba Sing Se is a story in and of itself. But by the time we left it had fallen to the Fire Nation, mostly thanks to Azula. We escaped with the Earth King and met up with your dad and his ships." He nodded at Katara and Sokka to be sure they understood what he was saying and was happy to see both of them light up at that, though Sokka more than Katara "We stayed with them for a while. Azula had shot me with lightning during a fight so I had to recover. The only reason I survived was because Katara knew how to heal and had been given a vial of special water from the Northern Water Tribe."

He shuddered at the memory of the lightning hitting him and wasn't really surprised when Zuko's hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly even though he could tell the other boy was really uncomfortable with this part of the story. He shook his head to try and clear it some "We planned an attack for the eclipse before going separate ways to finish preparing." He sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. "The invasion...didn't go well. They knew we were coming so we were never able to catch Fire Lord Ozai and in the end a majority of the troops we brought with us were captured. A small number of us escaped on Appa and fled to the Western Air Temple."

He looked at Zuko then and grinned "That's when Zuko joined us." He looked back at the others "It took a while for everyone to trust him, but I needed to learn firebending and he was our best option. By the time the comet was drawing near, we all trusted him." Sokka looked very skeptical at that, but no one interrupted as Aang's expression fell "But that's when we found out why Roku said we had to finish things before Sozin's comet." He grimaced "Ozai he." He shook his head.

"Fire Lord Ozai planned to use the comet to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground," Zuko cut in, voice dark and bitter "The fall of Ba Sing Se and Omashu had failed to break the resistance the way he had hoped it would so he decided to just decimate the entire area. Including his own colonies and where his troops were stationed." Aang didn't have to look at the others to know they were horrified at that. He knew he was, despite having heard it before.

"That-that's crazy!" Sokka cried "How-why?" He shook his head in horrified shock.

"It's barbaric!" Katara shot back, clearly furious "What kind of monster could do something like that?! And the rest of the Fire Nation was just ok with this?" Aang could hear Zuko sigh quietly before replying.

"Fire Lord Ozai is a monster," Zuko told them, voice laden with a deep kind of sadness "He is a prime example of everything wrong with the Fire Nation. I can honestly tell you that, no, most members of the Fire Nation would not be ok with that kind of plan, but there are very few who would be willing to speak out against it. The Fire Lord's will is absolute. And speaking out against him or the higher-ups in the military is very dangerous. Our people are frightened. Some agree with the war to a point, mostly because of misinformation that is being taught to our people from a very young age making it sound like we're some kind of savors to the world."

Zuko raised a hand to cut off the words that Sokka very obviously wanted to say "That's not true of course, but if you're taught it from birth and never see the world from the other side it's very easy to believe. And even if they don't believe the lies they're taught most don't dare speak out, let alone resist. Being a part of the Fire Nation military is not a voluntary thing. If you are selected to go to war you go or you are killed. If you try and fight back against the war it is very likely that your entire family will be killed as traitors to the Fire Nation." Aang shifted to wrap his arms around Zuko's waste. He could tell that explaining this was painful to the firebender.

"That's awful," Katara's voice was quieter this time and she looked both sad and horrified. Even Sokka had simmered down some, looking thoughtful. Aang waited for a moment before taking over to continue his story, not wanting to get off track for too long.

"Before we found out what Ozai was planning to do I was thinking about waiting to take him down until after the comet, I wasn't a master of the elements and thought I needed more time." He grimaced "And I was stalling. I-" He paused and looked down "I mentioned earlier that Air Nomads are vegetarians. That's because we're pacifists. We're taught that all life is sacred and that we shouldn't kill. I...I didn't want to kill Fire Lord Ozai, but none of us could think of any other way to stop him. I was panicking. I'm still kind of panicking. I thought I had found a way to get around killing him, but it didn't go well." He could practically feel Zuko's curiosity at that and he looked up at the older boy "The night I disappeared I was called out to a Lion Turtle."

Zuko's eyes widened slightly in shock at that "He taught me a way to remove someone's bending." Zuko stiffened, looking torn between shock and a muted horror "I thought that was an option I could use instead of killing him. But it was dangerous. The Lion Turtle warned me that during the process there is a chance of the other person pushing back. And I think that's what happened. I met Ozai near the edge of the Earth Kingdom. We fought and I pinned him down to try and take his bending. I think it went wrong. Then I woke up back here in the past." He watched as Zuko processed through that information, several emotions flashing across his face before he nodded his understanding. He still looked a little shocked, but otherwise understanding so Aang looked back at the others. "That's it for me. That's the whole story. I left out a lot of details of course, but we don't have time to sit and explain every little thing."

"This is a lot to take in," Kanna noted, speaking slowly and thoughtfully "And I can only imagine that the second part to this story will be equally enlightening." Her eyes flickered to Zuko at that "Perhaps we should take a break and get some food before we continue?"

"That would be very kind of you," Iroh spoke up "I can make some tea if you like." Aang was somewhat surprised when Kanna smiled at him, but he was also released.

"That sounds perfect," she agreed, moving to stand "Katara, come with me. Sokka go and check on the others." Her words left no room for questioning and both younger members of the Tribe got up to do as they were told. Sokka didn't even threaten them as he made his way out, looking deep in thought." Kanna turned her attention back to her guests "If you three don't mind waiting here we will be back shortly." Aang nodded and loosened his grip enough for Zuko to give the woman a small bow, noting that Iroh was doing the same as well. None of them spoke as the woman made her way out, followed by Katara, who looked rather shell shocked from all they'd been told.

"Well...that went well," Zuko mused quietly, earing a slightly hysterical laugh from Aang, who looked up at him to meet the small wry smile there.

"Yeah," Aang agreed "But we haven't been attacked or kicked out yet, so that's a start."

"We haven't even started my part of this mess," Zuko pointed out wryly "So there's still a chance." Aang laughed again at that before his attention was caught by the shift of Zuko's expression, moving from wry to affection. "We were worried about you," Zuko told him "When you disappeared. We couldn't figure out where you had gone. We ended up tracking down June again, but even her shirshu couldn't locate you." Aang shifted to hug him more fully, grateful to feel the firebender's arms wrap around him in return.

"I'm sorry for worrying you guys," he told his firebending master "I didn't mean to. I don't even remember leaving. I just woke up on the lion turtle's back. I think he called me there while I was still asleep."

"It's alright," Zuko told him quietly "I'm just glad that you're alright. Things didn't go like we planned, but we'll do it better this time." Aang nodded into his chest, hoping with all he had that he was right. They needed to get it right this time.

"Yeah," he said, putting as much conviction into the word as he could "We will."