Title: The Avatar Complex
Author: ProfessorFox
Rating: PG
Warnings: Nothing huge
Genre: Drama/Fantasy
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of its content.
Summary: Ever wondered about the life story of the very first Avatar in the world? Well, every legend has a beginning...

Long ago, the people of my world lived together harmoniously and bended the energies within themselves. Then, everything changed when the four elements were discovered: the badgermoles gave us earthbending, the dragons gave us firebending, the sky bison gave us airbending, and the Moon gave us waterbending. Energybending became a forgotten art and the people of my world became divided and war-like. All hope for peace seemed lost. That is, until I, the Avatar, was born. Though it would take many years for me to discover my true identity, I knew from a very early age that I was meant to see the world.

Book 1: Water

Chief Powhatek woke up every morning just before the sun finally rose above the horizon. He was always the first to wake in his tribe and the last to fall asleep. Worries and fears plagued him more than he would ever let on to his people, or even himself at times. But there was always a brief flash of brutal honesty that washed over him as he, as usual, stood and stared out at the sea alone.

He looked back at his people, still sleeping in their huts with all of their respective families, and then looked back to the sea. He looked back at the open ocean where the Great Land Bridge once stood and desperately searched within himself for the answer. Was he right to bring his people here? Was it wise to travel across the Great Land Bridge as so many had done before him? Was trying to build a settlement at the very northern tip of their world the best decision for all of them? Deep down he didn't know.

Suddenly, Chief Powhatek heard the sound of a little girl in the distance. He turned back to the huts and saw nothing. Then he heard the joyous scream yet again. He looked down the shore and finally spotted her. He ran to her. His vision had become impaired with old age and he couldn't tell who the girl was. He knew everyone in his tribe but he hadn't expected one of their youngest to wander off. Didn't she know how dangerous it was to be alone out there!?

He finally reached her and prepared to scold the girl until he realized what she was out there doing?

"Hey! Mr. Powhatek, look! I can do it! I'm just like you!" the little girl said as she held two fish encased in water bubbles, one in each hand. The fish spiraled in two opposing directions, hoping to swim away from the young waterbender. Chief Powhatek smiled. He still had half a mind to tell her to never walk off alone again but he decided to wait until later for that. Instead, he congratulated the little girl and took the fish from her with his own bending. From this distance, he could finally see who the five year old was.

"Let's go show the rest of the tribe how special you are, Kuzara."

The little girl beamed with admiration and skipped merrily alongside him as they prepared to wake the tribe. The sun, after all, had finally risen and Chief Powhatek became more sure of himself than ever before.

Kuzara loved being a waterbender. Being a water tribesman, however, was not as fun. Sure she gained love and respect from her people and she was also apparently more than exceptional at the bending art. That wasn't the problem.

The problem came as she grew up. She remembered the long training sessions she would have with Chief Powhatek ever since she was a mere child. They were often quite grueling. Mere thought alone of some of them made the hair on the nape of her neck tremble. There were times when Kuzara wanted to run away and give up on waterbending entirely, especially since she felt like she was getting harsher treatment than the other waterbending students. For Koh's sake, the man once left her to fend for herself in the frozen tundra their tribe dared not explore. She was ten.

Whenever Kuzara spoke out to Chief Powhatek about this, however, he said it was all to help hone her skills and overcome her fears.

"How does leaving me alone in the middle of nowhere help me not be afraid!?" she screamed at him. "And how come you treat me so much worse than everyone else you teach!? I thought you cared about me!"

Chief Powhatek seemed genuinely hurt by Kuzara's accusation that he didn't care about her and tried his best to explain. "I do care about you. I asked your father to let me teach you because I saw something special inside you that I wanted to cultivate. I knew you had more potential than the rest of us, even me. Perhaps my methods were extreme but you must realize that this world is cruel and merciless to those who let fear control them."

Kuzara's mood wasn't stabilizing and she still felt too abandoned to let the issue drop.

"If you wanted me to stop being afraid because you think the world is bad then why didn't you give the same lesson to any of the other waterbenders? And why do you care so much about the world when you brought us as far away from it as possible? It's not like I'm going anywhere…" Kuzara crossed her arms over her chest and darted her eyes away from the elder waterbender. She pouted, hoping he would notice her obvious hurt.

"That's just it, though. I believe you are, Kuzara. And perhaps you don't realize it yourself quite yet but I think you were meant to do great things. I can tell every time you waterbend. Just last year, when you were only nine years old, you were able to create a small water spout that lifted you up eight or so feet in the air! The water spout is an advanced waterbending technique."

Kuzara's eyes met her mentor's once more. She saw the same pride and admiration she had seen many times before and it melted her. It absolutely melted her. She hated how difficult it was for her to hold a grudge. She sighed and stared past Chief Powhatek at the great expanse of the ocean.

As if reading her thoughts, Powhatek continued. "Even though the Great Land Bridge collapsed shortly after our people crossed it, I still believe that you will one day see the rest of the world, Kuzara. One day." He walked away from her but Kuzara shouted back to him.

"What about you!?" she said.

He did not reply. Kuzara wasn't sure if he had heard her or not, but deep down she felt that the answer was probably obvious anyway. Not wanting to think about it further, she turned her attention back to the vast waters before her.

"Happy birthday, my little angel," Kuzara's mother said tenderly as she handed her a plate made out of ice that was filled with hot, crispy seal jerky. It was Kuzara's favorite dish and one of the few things she absolutely loved about her culture.

"We hope you have a wonderful thirteenth birthday, dear," her father said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will. Thanks Mom!" Kuzara began to nibble her way through the juicy delicacy. Her father always made fun of her for being so petite, even while eating her favorite food. Today was no different.

"You eat like a baby koala otter," he teased.

"Well it's better than eating like a lunatic, Alrick!" her mother shot back.

"Yeah well everyone is a lunatic in your eyes, Siska."

And so the usual bickering began. After finishing her (out of this world delicious!) seal jerky, Kuzara snuck out of the family hut while her parents continued their harmless bickering. She strolled casually throughout the village while the sun was still out, hoping to find some way to entertain herself on her birthday.

Many of her people were in their homes. She walked by one middle-aged woman who was healing her husband's recent injury after his latest hunting trip. Though she wasn't related to them by blood, she always knew them as Uncle Zato and Aunt Aurora. The two of them were good friends of her and her family, and Aunt Aurora had taught Kuzara everything she knew about healing.

Kuzara waved to them warmly and they waved back, wishing her a happy birthday. Kuzara wondered if anyone else in the village would wish her a happy birthday. She moved on the next person she could find, which happened to be another waterbending student of Chief Powhatek's. She was also the only other female student of his, aside from Kuzara. The other fifteen or so were males of varying ages. This girl, however, was probably the only member of her entire village that Kuzara didn't particularly like. Still, she tried to keep things civil at all times. The girl was five years older than her after all. In fact, she was the oldest student Chief Powhatek had. Being taught to respect elders, Kuzara tried to be polite despite her fear of the girl. Maybe she would survive the encounter.

"Good afternoon, Yumi," she said timidly.

"Yeah, good afternoon, runt."

"Hey! That was uncalled for!"

Yumi was about to reenter her hut but decided to stay and play for a little longer. She towered over Kuzara and tightened her fists.

"Oh really," Yumi started. "Well frankly, princess, I don't think you deserve anymore special treatment than you already get." She began to circle around Kuzara like a predator, intimidating her into submission. "You walk around this village like you own the place, just because you can pull a few waterbending tricks that the rest of us haven't figured out yet-"

"That's enough, Yumi."

Kuzara saw beyond Yumi's broad shoulders to where yet another waterbending student stood.

"Humph. Whatever you say, Kane. I'm tired of talking to her anyway."

Yumi reluctantly reentered her hut, though not before giving Kuzara one last smug, death glare before she did so. The young waterbender heaved a sigh of relief, wiping away the tears that were building up on her eyelid. She wouldn't allow herself to appear weak and dainty in front of the fifteen year old boy she (kinda sorta maybe) liked.

"Are you alright, Kuzara?" Kane said as he walked up to her. The boy had short, messy brown hair and blue eyes, which contrasted her long, black locks and gray eyes. He was tall and rather muscular for his age, though Kuzara figured that it was because he was training to be a warrior. Kane was, after all, the second most talented waterbending student that Chief Powhatek had and he was one of the oldest students as well. His skills probably proved useful enough to the men that they had no problem sending him out on every hunting trip.

After realizing that she was taking forever to answer his simple question, Kuzara cleared her throat and finally said, "I'll be fine. Thank you for the help. You seem like a really helpful guy, as evidenced by the fact that you just helped me which was really sweet of you. I'd love to help you out with something, whatever you need. I mean, that is, if you want. I'm certainly not trying to impose. I don't want you to get the wrong idea…but yeah I'm fine."

Kuzara mentally punched herself but physically she just stood there awkwardly twiddling her thumbs. Kane offered a bemused smile.

"Glad to hear," he said with a light chuckle under his breath. "Happy birthday by the way."

"You remembered my birthday?"

"Well, yeah. Everyone in the village knows, of course."

"Oh right." Kuzara prepared to mentally harpoon herself just before Kane unexpectedly held his hand out to her.

"Come on. Let's have some fun for your birthday. I know a great place to practice our waterbending."

Still twiddling with her thumbs and feeling like she could faint at any moment, Kuzara placed her hand in his. She gave him a nervous smirk and he gave her an uncontainable grin. They walked out of the village, holding hands, and not caring who saw. Kuzara would never care who saw.

Chief Powhatek was one of the many people who watched as Kuzara and Kane went on their merry way. He was, however, the only one that wasn't smiling. This was because he knew that this charming couple would not last. Life would have something completely different in plan for Kuzara. He loved the girl and knew she was meant to bring about great change in the world and, more importantly, their tribe. He counted on it.

The last thing that Kuzara needed was a distraction, especially if that distraction carried the risk of domesticating her. Where would all of her drive and ambition go once she was relegated to nothing more than the average housewife? No, he could not let that happen. He could not allow the plan that he had set forth into motion eight years ago to be curtailed so easily.

For the sake of the village and the entire Water Tribe, he would do just about anything to stop this. And he already had an idea how.

Comments and Reviews are much appreciated! Hope you like :)