A/N: This is my first AtLA fanfic and it's all based on a piece of fanart I saw. I hope you all enjoy and don't be afraid to give me constructive criticism along the way! Also I won't be rewriting every episode, mostly just the important ones.

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Our mother used to tell us stories about the old days: a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Water Tribes attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements; only he could stop the ruthless waterbenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years have passed and the Water Tribes are nearing victory in the war. Two years ago, my father sent my sister and I into hiding to protect us. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and that the cycle is broken, but I don't believe that. I think the Avatar is still out there and will return to save the world.

Chapter One: The Boy in the Iceberg

Azula looked around, seeing nothing but ice and water as far as the eyes could see. Everything was white and blue, a bland color scheme according to her. She peered over the side of the canoe and into the water, seeing a few fish swim by, avoiding her brother's spear as if they knew what was happening. Zuko was focused on trying to catch any fish to eat for dinner, but he wasn't having the best luck and didn't like the idea of Azula lightning bending them some food.

"I'll get this one. I can feel it." Zuko said out loud, supposedly to Azula but she didn't believe him.

She watched her brother thrust the spear into the water just behind the fish who promptly swam away as soon as the spear broke the water's surface. Zuko sat back in disbelief. It felt like they had been trying to catch anything to eat for hours.

Azula sighed, looking around to make sure no one was around anywhere before pulling off her glove and shooting a bolt of lightning into the water. Within seconds, dozens of fish hit the surface and she smiled.

"That's how you catch fish, Zu-Zu."

"Azula! How could you be so irresponsible?!"

"Irresponsible? I'm not. I looked around for anyone before I did it."

Zuko shook his head, grabbing the net and scooped up as many of the fish as he could without weighing the boat down too much.

"We can't do that again, okay?"

"Well based on the amount of fish we got, we won't have to."

"I mean it, Azula."

"Alright, alright. Now will you loosen up a bit?"

"Loosen up? How can I when we are hiding from the water tribe and they are literally right there?! I am terrified of being found out. I'm scared of being killed just because I was born!"

"Uh, Zuko?"

"I'm not done!"

"You better be because…" Azula pointed behind him where an iceberg had started to split, causing the ice to fall in the water and displace them, sending them through a maze of water and ice.

Once Azula and Zuko made it through the patches of ice, they were met with another iceberg that had a crack in it. They tried to slow their canoe down before it made impact, but to no avail without their bending. They hit the iceberg and it split more, sending the ice into the water but with not as much repercussions as the previous one.

They watched the iceberg continue to fall away until a perfect sphere of ice was left over. The ice began to glow with a bright bluish hue and the siblings looked at each other in worry. They rowed the canoe back as far as they could as the sphere glowed brighter and brighter. They watched as it looked like a human was trapped in the ice and Zuko looked at Azula in disbelief.

"No way are they still alive." Azula commented.

"We have to check."

"I hate when you're right."

They moved the canoe back towards it and Zuko placed his bare palm on the ice and melted it. A great gust of wind escaped from within, knocking Zuko and Azula into the water. A beam of light shot into the sky as the sphere fell away into the water.

Sokka looked up into the sky, seeing the bright blue light shoot up. It was something he had never seen before and he became worried about his tribe. He gave directions for his crew to turn the boat around so he could check on things at home. They moved towards the shore of the Southern Water Tribe with ease and he stepped onto the snow and ice he had called home his whole life.

"Gran Gran, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. We are good. Why are you back so soon?"

"I saw some strange light in the sky and turned around to make sure you were all okay."

Gran Gran shrugged, "I do not know what that was."

Bato stepped up, "It could only be the avatar."

"Why would they make their presence known now, after one hundred years?"

Bato shrugged, "I don't know but I can't think of anything else it could be."

Sokka looked back into the sky and said, "Well if it is the avatar, then I should probably tell the chiefs about it."

Zuko climbed onto what was left of the sphere and used the handle of his spear to help pull Azula up. They turned to see a child on the ground and a large mass with a lot of fur behind the child. They looked at each other, both curious and unsure how to continue. The light coming from the child started to dissipate and they were able to get a better look at the child, Zuko guessed it was a boy based on the shaved head. He gave a sound of exhaustion and started to fall to the ground. Zuko stepped forward before the boy hit his head on the hard ice.

Azula grabbed the spear, holding it at the ready in case she needed to use it, "Be careful, Zu-Zu."

Zuko watched as the boy opened his gray eyes, a look of confusion passing his face for a moment before his facial expression went back to normal.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked.

"I uh think so."

They moved to the base of the iceberg, Azula never lowering the spear for a second especially when the boy swiftly moved to his feet. For someone who was just frozen in ice, he moved too gracefully and she was suspicious of him.

The boy looked around, rubbing the back of his head, "What's going on here?"

Azula spoke up, jabbing the spear in his direction, "You tell us! How did you get in the ice? And how are you still alive and moving so well like nothing happened?!"

He pushed the spear out of his face and answered, "I'm not sure. I don't remember."

A low rumble came from the crater of the iceberg, causing all three of them to look towards it. The boy scrambled up the ice and happily jumped on the head of the large mass of fur within.

"Appa! Are you alright? Wake up, buddy."

Azula watched as the creature opened an eye only to close it again. The boy tried to lift its enormous head, causing the creature to lick the boy with his giant tongue. Azula grimaced as the thought of anything licking her disgusted her greatly.

The boy laughed, "Ha ha! You're okay!"

"What is that… Creature?" Azula asked.

"This is Appa, my flying bison." the boy answered, giving her a smile.

"Uh huh… And this is Nikko, my invisible brother."

"Anyway, do you guys live around here?"

Azula raised an eyebrow, "Don't answer that. He probably made the entire enemy fleet aware of our location with that weird beam of light!"

Zuko raised an eyebrow at her, "Yeah I'm sure he's a spy. You can tell by the evil look in his eye and his strange clothes. The paranoid one is my sister, Kurra. You never told us your name."

"I'm A… a-a-Achoo!" Azula and Zuko watched as the boy sneezed, causing him to soar into the air and landing back on the ground seemingly unphased, "I'm Aang."

Azula looked at him with concern, "You just sneezed… And flew at least ten feet into the air…"

"Really? It felt higher than that."

Zuko put two and two together, "You're an airbender!"

"Sure am!"

Azula pinched the bridge of her nose, "I've had enough crazy for today and want to go home."

"Well our boat isn't exactly in good shape.."

"Well Appa and I can give you a lift!" Aang airbended himself onto the supposed flying bison.

"Sounds good to me." Zuko said, walking up to the bison and climbing up.

Azula hesitated, knowing this was her only option besides freezing to death and reluctantly followed Zuko up.

"Hey."

Aang turned to see Nikko leaning over the saddle to talk to him, "Hey."

"I was wondering, since you're an airbender, do you know what happened to the Avatar?"

"Oh, no. I didn't know him personally. I knew people who knew him, but I didn't. Sorry."

Zuko sighed, "Okay. Thanks." He laid back down in the saddle, "Good night."

"Sleep tight."

Aang pointed over the hill, "Hey, isn't that the Southern Water Tribe?"

Azula answered, "Yes and you are to never step foot there."

Aang looked at her, confused, "Why not?"

"Because we are at war."

"What war? What is she talking about, Nikko?"

"You don't know?"

"Penguin!"

Azula and Zuko looked at each other and she asked, "How does he not know?"

The two siblings followed the airbender over to the penguins and watched him chase a couple of them around for some time.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to catch one to go penguin sledding!"

"Why?"

"It's fun."

"Well we don't know how and you don't seem to be making progress so…"

Aang gave up after some time and his attention was diverted elsewhere as he pointed to something in the distance, "What's that out there?"

Azula looked to where he was pointing and saw the insignia of her nation, "A Fire Navy ship and an old one at that."

"Can we explore that?"

"Probably. If the wood doesn't give out."

Before she could even react, Aang had airbended them up onto the ship. Azula and Zuko looked at each other, unsure what to do.

Aang started to move around and Zuko stopped him, "Be careful. This ship could be booby-trapped."

They walked through the ship carefully and eventually came to a room stocked with all sorts of weapons, ones neither Azula or Zuko had seen before.

"The Fire Nation came down in hopes to slow down the attacks the Water Tribes were conducting. This is the only ship that didn't make it back out."

"That doesn't make sense. I have friends all over the world. I've never seen any war."

Azula thought for a moment, his words making no sense to her given the whole world knew about the war, "Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?"

Aang shrugged, "I don't know. A few days, maybe?"

"I think it was more along the lines of a hundred years."

"What?! That's impossible! Do I look like a hundred-twelve year old man to you?"

"The war is a century old and you don't know about it because somehow, you were frozen that entire time."

"It's the only logical explanation." Zuko added.

They watched as Aang fell to the floor in shock, "A hundred years! I can't believe it."

Zuko kneeled down beside him, "I'm sorry, Aang. Maybe there's some positive in all of this."

"Well I did get to meet both of you."

Azula held out her hand to Aang, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Zuko saw the rope too late as Aang's foot came into contact with it. Azula looked panicked as metal bars slid downward over the entrance, trapping them inside. Zuko ran towards the bars and peered through them.

"What's that you said about booby traps?"

The gears and engines of the old ship suddenly powered up, beginning to function for a moment. The three of them followed the movements of the machines until a flare fired and exploded high in the sky.

Aang looked up, noticing a hole just big enough for the three of them to move through, "Hold on tight!"

Aang had jumped and boosted himself up higher using his airbending. He managed to get them through the hole and onto the deck of the abandoned ship, running away from the explosions coming from the vessel.

Sokka looked up at the sky, seeing the red sparks fly through the air and grabbed the nearest telescope. He peered through it, following the trio's movements.

"Summon Bato!"

The soldier nearest him nodded and fetched his father's best friend.

"What is it?" the older man asked.

"I think I found the avatar and his accomplices."

"Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation?"