Disclaimer: None of the characters depicted in the following stories belong to the Author, and no money is being made from this work.

Rebirth

Chapter I : Advent

He realized in his detached state that he was walking through a rapidly dissipating fog. Observing his surroundings he noted in the back of his mind that there where other people walking with him in a loose group, it was odd. Suddenly he came upon a wall of bamboo, and without his will guiding it, his arm pushed through it and his body followed.

"SOKKA!"

Confusion.

"Wha-"

Then he felt something warm and soft crash in to him, arms wrapped themselves around his waist and clutched him tightly. Blinking, Sokka felt himself come back slowly as things became clearer, only to notice the young woman in his arms.

Looking down, it took him a moment to remember, and then it came back to him.

"Katara?"

She only clung to him harder and he didn't resist the urge to hug her back, tightly. After a moment she pushed away "Sokka what happened to you? What happened in the spirit world?"

"Katara? I… don't know… what's going on? All I remember is a lot of jerking around and tree's going past really quickly, then a whole bunch of white, and then I'm… here." Sokka slumped down as his legs gave way and his balance left him, narrowly getting caught by his sister before he connected with the ground.

"You don't look too good; maybe you should go lie down and rest." Her concern was palpable, and he couldn't understand why he had a surge of unexplainable emotions at her actions. Coming back to himself he stood up and planted his feet firmly on the ground before gently shaking of her hand.

"I'll be fine," a pause, "where's Aang? Last I remember he was trying to fight a spirit, and then I ran out to help him… "

"Aangs safe, he just calmed the spirit. You've been trapped in the spirit world for nearly an entire day. How are you feeling?"

He stared at her for a moment as he became abruptly aware of his body, and with a slightly embarrassed look excused himself to find a bathroom as quickly as humanely possible.

Aang approached Katara as she stared at her brother rapidly enter the meeting hall.

"Katara." No response. "Katara?" After a moment he waved his open hand in front of her face, "Katara, you ok?" She startled, as if coming out of a reverie, before looking at Aang and offering him a quick smile.

"Yes Aang?"

"Something wrong? You looked preoccupied." Her smiled faltered slightly as she looked at where her brother had disappeared before answering.

"Nothings wrong, but I was just wondering, what's the spirit world like?" Caught of guard by her question, Aang turned to look in the direction Katara was facing, his mind trying vainly to come up with an answer to give the girl standing beside him.

"It's different; I don't really know how to explain it. It's very… different." He finished lamely, unsure of what to say or how to describe the subject. The young waterbender turned to him as she asked her next question.

"Can things… happen in the spirit world? Bad things?" Aang found himself uncomfortable under her questioning gaze, again unsure what to say. The spirit world was dangerous, because it was different. For a normal human it was rife with unknown dangers, it was different for him, he was always connected to both worlds, not quite human but not quite spirit. He decided to be honest.

"It's safe, at least it seemed safe, but bad things can happen to you if you aren't careful, if you run into a bad spirit." Suddenly realizing the reasons behind her odd question he hurriedly continued, "I doubt anything happened to Sokka, he would have been under Hei Bei's protection in the spirit world, besides, none of the other people seem hurt, and Sokka was in there the shortest." He finished, offering her a wide grin.

Katara turned and rewarded him with a smile as she grabbed his hand and said, "Come on, let's go find my brother."

"So, we've, well Aang calmed down the spirit, what now? And when do we eat?"

It was slightly later in that same evening; the three companions had finally reunited shortly after Aang and Katara had entered the town hall. Sokka in typical Sokka faction, was all business and moving on, unless there was food involved.

"I have to go to the Fire Nation." Seeing the synchronized incredulous looks the siblings where giving him, Aang quickly elaborated. "I need to speak with Roku, and I know how, but my only chance is during the solstice."

"But the Solstice is tomorrow!" Katara's strained cry reached the ears of the villagers; it also created an opening for Sokka.

"Yeah, and what does that have to do with going to the Fire Nation?" Sokka was struck with an odd feeling of déjà vu, but after a moment shook it of, the spirit world had obviously affected him a little bit.

"There's a temple dedicated to the Avatar on a crescent island in the Fire Nation, I need to get there by the winter solstice in order to talk to Avatar Roku", Sokka was frowning as he finished, and Aang wondered idly at what was going to come out next.

"Do you even know where it is?"

"Yeah I flew there last night." This resulted in a stare, and then Sokka slapping his own forehead.

"You get weirder all the time Aang, you and Katara both."

"I meant in the spirit world, Roku's animal guide brought me there and Roku told me to get there by the solstice, it was really important."

"Why didn't Roku just tell you then? I mean if you were speaking in the spirit world, why couldn't he have told you everything?" Sokka was clearly gathering steam in an attempt to stop Aang from doing something potentially suicidal, but he was interrupted by Katara before the airbender could reply to his questions.

"Leave Aang alone, Avatar Roku probably didn't have enough time to explain the details." Taking the opening Katara had provided him with, Aang gave Sokka a slightly nervous grin and decided to redirect the conversation to safer paths.

"In any case, we've all been up for a long time, I think we should sleep a little bit before leaving. I'm sure the village head would be willing to wake us in a few hours time to begin our journey. Besides it seems that the villagers are making food to celebrate the safe return of the abducted."

Sokka felt an odd sense of rising suspicion when Aang redirected the conersation. Still he played along and agreed that it would be good to get some sleep. As they walked back towards the meeting hall and their beds, Sokka observed Aang from the corner of his eye, noting his out of character nervousness, and his tense stance.

Something was wrong; Sokka couldn't pin it down but something just seemed wrong, so he resolved to stay awake and see what happened.

Katara had been dreaming of days of old, days when her father and Sokka would tell stories around their fire. Days when her father was still the historian of their village and not the military leader representing the Southern Water Tribe.

Happy days. Simple days.

Thus she was understandably irritated when she felt the familiar presence of her brother slowly trying to rouse her. "Wha is it So'ka?" she stopped speaking as a yawn nearly split her face and she furiously rubbed the sleep from her eyes. His reply however got her awake instantly.

"Get up 'Tara, it's time to leave."

Awake and mostly coherent, she nodded mutely and began to pack her things, somewhat surprised that he had already done most of it without rousing her. He was usually too lazy to help out with the packing unless they were in a hurry, most of the time he dealt with only his own things. Still, if her big brother was becoming a little bit more responsible, she was hardly going to complain. She worked at packing her remaining things while he started taking out their packages, presumably to put it on Appa. Still, it struck her as odd; ever since he had come back from the spirit world he had been a lot quieter than she was used to, not to mention the not so friendly way he had been looking at Aang for a better part of the evening. It made no sense; Sokka and Aang had always gotten along like brothers, what could have happened to cause him to change? Her musings were broken when her body automatically hefted the finished pack on to her back. She decided to put it to the back of her mind for now; they would need to focus on getting in, and out, of the Fire Nation alive first.

"Sokka, what's going on?"

The young man looked up from where he was loading supplies the villagers were handing up to him and mouthed for her to wait a moment. Aang beat him to it by taking a giant leap from where he was arranging supplies on Appa's saddle and landing with a gentle breeze in front of her.

"The villagers decided to help us out and give us some supplies to last us a while" She was slightly taken aback by his cheerful countenance, weren't they about to embark on a suicidal mission into the Fire Nation? "Anyway we have to head out now if we're going to make it in time for the solstice. Lets go!" with that he bounced off, cheerily waving to a few villagers as he went. Katara stared at him and small smile flitted across her face as she started walking to Appa. No matter what, Aang would be Aang, and he wasn't the type to stay down, no matter what the situation.

She got to Appa's side just as both the bison and boy on his saddle let out synchronized face-splitting yawns. She looked up at her brother at this display eyebrows raised, he shrugged and off-handedly muttered something about not getting much sleep. Another oddity, Sokka was generally the first to bed, and always last to rise; he also slept like a rock.

Taking her brothers hand up she clambered on to the saddle, moving around the supplies to a more comfortable spot, before turning to say goodbye to the kind villagers. She held her tongue as the village elder came forward to address them, and was surprised at what he said. "You must leave quickly Avatar, your time is short if you want to get to the fire temple in time!"

"Thank you-"

"GO!"

Without another word the call to haste was given and Appa soared into the sky, flying west toward the Fire Nation and Avatar Roku.

They were minutes into their journey when Sokka opened his pack and pulled out his sleeping bag and prepared to sleep; his sluggish movements betraying his fatigue.

"Gee Sokka, why are you still tired? Didn't you get enough sleep?" He shook his head absentmindedly at her question as he yawned again.

"Stayed up cause of Aang" it was the throaty murmur of a person whose mind was well into the realm of sleep and whose body was simply working on autopilot. Securing his sleeping bag to one of the handles to ensure who wouldn't move during the flight, he crawled in and with a last yawn was promptly asleep.

A wry smile crossed her face at her brothers amazing ability to fall asleep (and stay asleep!) in nearly any situation. But his last words tickled her curiosity, and she turned to Aang to find out just what those words had meant. Leaning over the saddle and putting her mouth near his ear to make up for the rushing wind she had to repeat herself three times before Aang understood the gist of her question. When he did however, he was silent for a long time, and Katara thinking that he hadn't heard her question leaned in again to repeat herself. She was somewhat startled when Aang patted Appa on the head and leapt up, landing neatly in a sitting position in the saddle behind her. Turning, she saw him avoiding her gaze with a sheepish and embarrassed look.

"I… uh… Well I tried to leave without you and Sokka, when you were asleep, but Appa wouldn't fly without you. Then Sokka freaked me out when he walked up beside me and asked me what I was doing. He looked kind of angry that I was leaving as well, and well, he didn't yell but the way he was talking said he really wanted to when he as telling me exactly why I shouldn't go alone." The silence stretched between them, broken by the rushing winds and Appa's steady, heavy breathing. Aang regained his lost air quickly and continued before Katara could comment. "By then the Elders found us and Sokka asked for supplies and they left to get them for us. And then he went to get you."

Katara stared at him for a moment, as he sat there with his head bowed in the moonlight, and she couldn't find it in herself to be angry at him for trying to leave her behind. He looked so scared, and lonely in the moonlight, it sparked her instincts and she reach forward and enveloped him in a light hug.

Aang stopped breathing for a moment as Katara's arms wrapped themselves around him. She placed her head on his shoulder and they simply sat there as Aang tentatively brought his arms up and returned the hug. His reverie was broken when Katara spoke in a soft whisper.

"Aang, don't ever leave us, you mean too much to the world, and to me. We're you're friends; we want to help you, me and Sokka both. Let us help, don't push us away, we follow you because we want too, we know the risks all too well."

He was restraining tears as she said those words, the happiness swelling inside him threatening to burst. But he restrained it, and only spoke back in a chocked voice as they traveled under the moons guiding light.

"Yeah Katara."

He lay in his sleeping bag, his clenched jaw and frowning visage the only indication of his troubled dreams.

He stood in a giant city, shops and buildings everywhere as far as the eye could see, the populace, beaten and disheartened flowed around him. On his left gigantic walls rose, covering the horizon, extending as far as he could see; to his right, far into the distance at the center of the city the Fire Nation standard hung on the walls of the royal palace.

He looked over the prison camp, bright lights illuminating all of it in the darkness, his vision oddly constrained. He turned to his partner and was greeted by a featureless bone white mask with only slits for eyeholes. He knew in that moment he was wearing one as well, and with a nod they both silently made their way down towards the camp.

He was running through a forest; a single shadow in the night and next to him paced the other part of a matching pair, moving swiftly and silently. No footsteps or broken twigs marked their passage, and no animals acknowledged their presence as they traveled deeper into the darkness.

He kneeled at a trio of graves with the sun setting behind them. One marked by the symbol for Air, the other for Water, the last with Earth. A hand settled on his shoulder, and he looked to his side to be greeted by the same mask. A nod again, and he pulled his own mask over his face and pulled his cloak close around him, as they turned and left the graves behind.

A beautiful woman with insanity in her eyes and lightning on her fingertips laughing at them; the beginning of the end.

Blood.

Battle.

Steel.

Fire.

Lighting.

Death.

The calm acceptance as he leaned against the wall dying; and then the white took him.

He jerked upwards out of his sleeping bag, for a moment in time all there was for Sokka was the sounds of his harsh breathing, the blood pounding in his ears and the slick feel of cold sweat covering his body as he tried to process the visceral reality of the dream, no, nightmare, he had endured.

"About time you woke up, Sokka." Within seconds of the voice reaching his ears he was out of his sleeping bag and in a defensive stance, cursing his lack of weapon. The world turned black for a moment as the blood rushed to his head. Within seconds he had found the source of the voice and was surprised at what he saw. The man was tall; he was wearing the traditional garb that adults in the Southern Water Tribe wore and had his hair in an all too familiar wolf-tail.

"Who are you? How do you know my name and damn it, what the hell are you doing on our bison? We're hundreds of feet in the air!"

The man observed him for a moment, a wry smile flickering across his lips. More seconds passed and he could see the young man tensing. Before Sokka could say anything more he stood and slowly deliberately walked to the edge of the saddle.

"Hey what are you doing, wait! Stop!" Sokka's cry went unheeded as the strange man continued his slow walk up to the edge of the saddle, and stepped off into the air. His horror became confusion when the man simply floated there, three feet away from the edge of the saddle in mid air with no indication of falling anytime soon. As the man turned, the young warrior shivered at the look in his eyes. It was the look of a dead man, the look of someone who had lost everyone and everything, yet it retained the sharp edge to it that spoke of someone who had spilled blood and had no compunction about doing it again.

"Why I can do this is because," he waved his arms expansively, "we are still in your dream. The reason I know who you are," he paused for a moment and made eye contact again, "is because I am you from the future." There was a pause and Sokka felt as if time had slowed down around him as the final words left his lips. "And the reason I'm here, is because I'm going give you, us, a second chance."

Silence reigned for an unfathomable length of time, but he was willing to wait, he knew the younger version of himself was not foolish, nor did he hold delusions over the mortality of himself and his friends. The older Sokka grimaced internally; having your mother killed in front of you tended to shatter any such delusions. The lesson would only be driven in harder with every subsequent death. Yue, Suki, Toph, Aang, Katara. No, he knew he was no fool.

"This can't be real."

Alas he was still a child, one couldn't really blame him for trying to rationalize or deny things that didn't fit into what he deemed as reality. In response he decided to be candid, no sense being grim for no reason.

"So this isn't real and I'm a figment of your dream," a small smile flickered across his face, "why?"

"Time travel isn't supposed to be possible. Even I did come back, we wouldn't be able to exist at the same time; it would make the world explode, or something."

He was getting there. "Indeed, it is also true that the amount of energy, spiritual and otherwise to send someone back in time would be close enough to infinite, thus being impossible, even for gods." His younger self looked at him incredulously; clearly the jargon had gone over his head. "It means that by the laws that govern this world, it is impossible to physically send someone into the past. Even for the gods."

"Exactly! That's exactly why you can't be anything but a bad dream!" He had begun to enjoy his victory when the older mans voice cut through his relief.

"But what about the soul of a dead man? A soul wouldn't have mass would it?"

Face frozen in shock, he slowly lowered his arms before frowning and answering, "Yes I…"

"Here's a scenario. We're in a war, we're fighting and we lose. In the end that doesn't really affect the spirit world does it? Humans kill each other off all the time; you don't see people getting sent back in time to ensure everyone lives. So tell me, what could happen, that's so cataclysmically bad that the Gods themselves send the soul of some poor fool back in time to fix it?"

Silence hung between them, before a frowning younger Sokka slowly began to speak. "Something bad that affected the spirit world, like the Avatar dying? But he'd just be reincarnated anyway…" a widening of eyes, "Aang dies in the Avatar State doesn't he?"

Bingo

The older man smiled before moving in for the kill. "I don't recall learning about the Avatar State until after Aang mastered waterbending, which won't happen for a while yet. Tell me where did you learn that pertinent piece of information?"

Silence.

"Slowly our knowledge is mixing as I reside within your conciousness, and eventually you will learn things through osmosis that you wouldn't have known otherwise. But that process will take a long time, and as you pointed out earlier, the world doesn't like the fact that I'm here. Within a few days I'm going to be gone from your mind, a faded wisp of a memory, and nothing will change." His eyes were downcast as he finished his statement, his mind running threw the multitude of memories he had stored in the back of his head over the years, precious moments that he never wanted to forget.

The silence stretched, and the younger man stood wary. Strangely he found himself believing the apparition, some things he had done since getting back from the spirit world had been decidedly out of character for him. This time it was the younger Sokka who broke the silence. "Things don't go too well do they?"

There was a short pause as the older man looked up. "No, things really don't go too well. It was ok to a point, but we were too unorganized at the end, too rushed, too vulnerable. Suki fell during the initial attack of the Fire Nation capital. Aang died in the Avatar state fighting Ozai, and Katara died a few days later, from an arrow to the throat after we were routed from the capital." He took a breath, calming his nerves before continuing.

"That's why I'm here; the gods say I have to stop Aang from dying. But she's given me a chance and I intend to ensure to take as much advantage as I can, so that we all survive."

The tribesboy looked up and gazed into the eyes of his counterpart. His mind was a chaotic mess of ideas and memories, alien yet frighteningly familiar, that were slowly coming to him. He shivered, so much death, so much killing, and so much loss. He took a deep shuddering breathe as he reigned in his increasing agitation. "So what do we do? If you only have a week here then you've got to teach me a lot right? Maybe you can show me some moves to take people down." He got into a makeshift stance and started boxing towards the spirit, dodging phantom blows. He stopped though when the man started laughing.

"There is no 'we' about it." Silence met this statement, and after a moments thought Sokka began to back off suddenly wary, but the older man simply continued speaking, ignoring his actions. "There is no you or me either. If you choose to accept this deal, we will become an us."

Confusion.

"What?"

"If we both go through this, we will both 'die' when our souls merge, forming a new entity, an us, if you want to call it that. The question is," his laughing eyes became serious, "Are you willing to give up everything for a chance to have a future? To save your friends, your loved ones, this damned world?"

Sokka said nothing at this, simply staring into his older counterparts tired dull eyes with defiance.

"If you're really me, then you already know that answer don't you?"

Perhaps for the first time in this unreal conversation, the man smiled a smile that reached his eyes, lighting a burning hope behind them for the first time in years. "Yeah, cause I'm an idiot to the end, but I'm an idiot who's willing to give up everything for the ones I love."

He stepped forward until he was standing back on the saddle. They looked at each other from across the saddle, each wondering if this would work or it would simply be a new beginning. They met at the center of the saddle, and the pair gripped each other forearms and a warrior's handshake. Sokka felt for a barest of moments that something around him, inside his chest, a roaring beast that was bursting and exploding outward, and with that release he was thrown into a nightmare of memories, of loves won and lost, of death and war, and in his sleep he screamed.

"Sokka! SOKKA! Wake up!" Katara was desperate, Sokka had started thrashing and moaning in his sleep, quickly becoming a roar of denial as he seemingly fended of illusionary enemies. She had been trying to wake him for several minutes without success. Momo had hid under Aangs shirt at Sokka's first scream and and the young Avatar could feel the small creature shivering against his chest as he tried to keep a spooked Appa calm.

With a great heave the beleaguered young man sat up eyes wide and pouring tears. Katara was beside him instantly worried about what had driven her brother to such an extreme. She was even more surprised when his haunted eyes turned to her and he lunged forward gripping her tightly and crying into her dress mumblings things under his breath and refusing to let go. She settled into his embrace, crooning a lullaby her grandmother had used to soothe them as children under her breath as she stroked his hair calmingly. His breathing eventually slowed and he drifted to sleep, but not once did he relinquish his grip on her for the rest of the night.

Aang glanced back as the screams were replaced by quiet sobs. He had never once seen Sokka cry in such away, and he shivered at the thought of what kind of nightmare he must have endured to cause it to happen. Katara caught his eye for a moment as she soothed her older brother and something unidentifiable passed between them. After a endless moment Aang turned and continued to soothe his animal guide mumbling words of affection. His mind was filled with the image of Katara bathed in the moonlight holding her brother. For a split second in his eyes she had seemed ephemeral and unreal, like a goddess that had swooped down from the heavens to protect her precious person, ready to deal death and destruction to any who dared harm him.

He shivered, he would remember that image for a very long time, in all its dangerous beauty.

As her consciousness traversed the fabric of time getting farther and farther from her own existence, she felt a sense of calm course through her. She had used what remained of her energy to follow Sokka, and as she came to the end of his path her relief was palpable that he had arrived safely. However the route was closing behind her and she did not even have a moment to pause as she molded the soul's spiritual energy into a metaphorical spear, and plunged forward. This time there was no safe path, the very existence of her world protested her presence and slowly she began to feel her will fading. Yet still she continued.

You're time is ever short, remember, let the soul guide you, the farther you get from its original time the more it will look for another point in which to rejoin itself.

She could feel the massive energy within the consumed soul beginning to fade, yet still she pressed forward. Farther and farther she traveled into the past, and slowly her will was worn away to a mere wisp of what it had once been. She pressed onward as the fabric of time began to lash out at her intrusion sapping her strength, as her will finally gave its final flicker of defiance the soul in her hands pulsed, merging with her in a burst of energy, and then she was floating into the darkness.

She opened her eyes, to the vista of a village burning. Confusion coursed through her, who was she? Where was she? What was going on? Glancing about helplessly, she instinctively looked up at the moon for a moment, hoping to find something to guide her and give her a way out.

Yue.

I am Yue.

And then it came back, as the tiny spark of will left within her flared to life and she remembered.

Her life, her love.

Her mission.

Shaking her head and suppressing her feeling of relief she stepped forward looking for the person she was here for. Things weren't over yet.

He was scared. Where was mommy? Daddy? Why hadn't they come out of the house with him, who where the scary men? He shivered as tears wracked his body. He wanted his mommy, he was hungry and cold and everything was burning.

Where was mommy? The terrifying red was everywhere, the fire, the blood, it was scary. He wanted to go hide behind his daddy until he laughed picked him up and say that big boys don't get scared or cry as he'd get put on his daddy's shoulders.

Cold and shivering he stared at the remains of his village before curling up into as small a ball as possible and choking back his tears.

"You poor child." The whispered words reached him, even above the crackling of fires, his sobs and the blood pounding in his ears. He was up instantly, staggering slightly as the blood rushed to his head, ready to run. He stopped though when he saw who had spoken.

"You poor child," Yue stepped forward making every pain to appear as unthreatening as possible. "Please I won't hurt you, have you lost your momma and poppa?"

She was beautiful, blue eyes and bone white hair set of her dark complexion, her clothes where blue with white fur lining. She wasn't more beautiful than his mommy though, his mommy was the most beautiful person in the whole wide world, and his daddy was the strongest. But still she was pretty, and she seemed nice. Sniffing, he slowly nodded.

Yue approached him slowly, slowly kneeling a few feet away. "What's your name?"

He stared at her with his huge gray eyes, and thankfully didn't run with her presence so close to him. After a moment, he answered slowly, "I'm Menzo," his eyes went wide for a moment and Yue feared that he was about to bolt. Instead he sketched what could be approximated as a bow, and slowly fearfully asked, "May I know you're name miss? Daddy always told me to be polite to nice ladies. Did I do it right?" She smiled at his adorable look as he fidgeted, looking embarrassed.

"You did it perfectly, Menzo. I'm sure you're daddy and mommy are proud. My name is Yue." His eyes widened at that, and he quickly let loose with the one question he wanted an answer to.

"Do you know where my mommy and daddy is?" he was so excited, he wanted to see his mommy again! Her look told him all he needed to know though and his happiness faded quickly in to fear. "Mommy and daddy don't love me anymore!" His eyes began to tear up and his lips trembled, "I was a bad boy too much and now they don't want me anymore…" He started hiccupping as the tears started to flow again. He was surprised though when he felt the nice ladies arms go around him and pull him close. It took him a moment of hesitation before he burrowed his face into her shoulder and bawled.

Yue sat there with the young boy in his arms, crooning softly as she patted his back and stroked his hair to let him calm down. "Menzo, you're parents don't hate you, they simply had to go somewhere where you can't go yet. It's a place where everyone has to go eventually. I know; I happen to live there." He pulled back eyes telling her that he wanted to believe her, and she offered him a smile before continuing softly. "Menzo, your mother and father love you dearly, and they didn't want to leave you, but right now they're watching you. So you have to grow up and become a strong man, okay? Grow up big and strong, and become a hero. And save a beautiful princess, and love her, and marry her, and live happily until its time for you too go and finally see your parents again." She was surprised and amused as he pulled back and gave her a look.

"Girls are confusing, and they always do boring girly things." Laughing softly Yue drew him back into her embrace.

"Yes, we're confusing and we do a lot of boring girly things, but one day you'll change your mind and you'll like us as well. You liked your mommy didn't you?" He huffed at this, affronted.

"Mommy isn't a girl, she's a mommy; there s a difference." He spoke as if it was the final word on the matter, and perhaps it was. Yue could feel her time growing short and she knew she needed to hurry.

"Menzo, do you like me?" The young boy blushed before nodding, suddenly shy. "Then Menzo, can you help me with something?" He nodded eagerly, and she continued. "Not now, but in the future. The bad men will keep doing bad things to everyone and I will need you're help so please little one, help me when I am in trouble."

He watched in fascination as she drew two symbols in the air between them, and then touched her finger to his forehead before kissing the same spot lightly. "Thank you Menzo. Please grow up big and strong, and become a hero." She stood up and backed away a few feet, face solemn. She had placed two runes; one was a series of messages. It would unlock itself in the years ahead, at the time when he needed to alter the timeline. It contained memories, bits of knowledge that would unfurl themselves within his mind when it was appropriate. The second was a small blessing, for as long as the moon shone on him he would be blessed with good luck and clear thought. It was not much, but it was all she could do in her weakened state.

He stood there and bowed just as his daddy told him how to, and he hoped his daddy was happy he was remembering his manners to the nice lady. When he looked up though, he gasped in shock. Yue was smoking, slowly becoming transparent. "Miss Yue! Are you ok! You're all see-through!"

Her reply was to smile at him, a slow sad smile. "It is time for me to leave. Remember, young one. If you are ever sad, ever angry, ever confused, know that I am watching you and I will guide you and protect you for as long as you believe in me." She pointed at the moon as she said this, and the young boy followed her finger to stare at the glowing orb. When he looked back she was gone. But he didn't feel sad or alone anymore as he walked over to where she had been standing, and curled up to sleep in the soft grass. The burning village slowly faded from his dream and was replaced by the soft sounds of the night creatures, but he wasn't afraid, Yue was watching him after all.

The man looked up from where he was keeping watch. He observed the young boy as he stopped thrashing, and began to sleep calmly on his side. He noted this as remarkable. He had found the boy starving in the forest, obviously lost and likely the only survivor of the pillaged village he left behind him a half day before. It had taken him the better part of the day to get the boy to accept food and even longer for him to trust him enough to join him at his small fire. He smiled. This one was obviously strong to have recovered from such an event so quickly. He would make a fine apprentice, and a fitting person to continue the legacy of his master, and his master's master, and so forth into the mists of the past.

Eleven years later…

The shadowed figure walked in the dark streets, her intent as clear as her footsteps. She just needed to get past the next checkpoint and she would be able to get to the docks and make her escape.

Ursa smiled bitterly at her thoughts. To escape from her home, to run from her husband who undoubtedly wanted her dead at this point. Zuko…

No… I can't think of this, I have to focus on getting out of here.

Her head turned up sharply at a noise farther on ahead. It was a guard patrol, she ducked quickly into an alleyway having no desire to be stopped and questioned about why she was out wandering the streets. If she was discovered as Fire Lady Ursa, she'd be taken back to the castle, and her doom, very quickly. She touched the hilt of the two short blades hilted to her waist under her hooded cloak. If it came to that, she would have to use all her skill to escape, even if it meant spilling the blood of her people.

She tensed as one of the passing guards walked into the alleyway. Fortunately, he only gave it a cursory glance with his lantern before rejoining his group and continuing the patrol. Ursa didn't move for a good minute until she was sure that the guards were out of sight. It was only then, after cautiously looking for any observers, that she continued her journey.

Once she stepped into the small cutter moored at the docks, she finally let herself breathe easier. She needed to find the captain; she had paid him generously to be given the fastest and most discreet passage to the Earth Kingdom. What would happen when she got there would be decided then, she had to escape first. Moving quickly she approached the door to the interior of the ship, knocking in a specific order to ensure that the person waiting on the other side knew it was their well paying passenger.

The view hole opened. There as a moment as she was observed before a question was asked "Who stands at the broken bridge?"

"One who knows of the golden lock and carries the jade key." Another pause and the view hole slid closed as the door opened. A reedy sailor gestured her in quickly, closing the door behind her. He led her down the hall, eventually coming to a slightly sturdier door that had an engraved dragon on it. "The captain'll see you."

Nodding to her he opened the door. She was startled when he closed the door behind her with a clang, leaving her in pitch darkness. Her hands went immediately to her blades and she waited. Not a sound greeted her. Not even breathing. After several tense moments she slowly reached for the light switch, thanking Agni that all the Fire Nation ships were built the same.

Horror struck her. The captain sat at his desk, his neck red from the blood that had spilled from his slit throat. Her horror turned to the icy grip of fear as she observed the remaining twelve bodies littered along the walls. She recognized that armor, and the insignia! It was the sign of Ozai's personal guard.

He knew.

Right now she would have been captured and likely on her way to the palace to experience the death her husband had planned for her.

But who had killed them? She scanned the room again, slowly drawing her swords should an attempt on her life be made.

"Put your swords away Fire Lady Ursa of the Fire Nation. I mean you no harm."

She spun, placing herself in a defensive position. That man had not been there before!

The figure stood in a shadowed corner of the room, body hidden by a full cloak that gave the impression that he was floating. His hood was drawn over his head but would have allowed a shadowed view of his face if it had not been covered by a bone white featureless mask with only small slits for his eyes.

"W-Who are you?" cursing herself for letting her voice show her fear, she steeled herself and focused once more on the assassin standing before her.

The silence stretched for a moment, and he appeared to be thinking over his answer.

"Lady Ursa, if I had not killed these soldiers you would right now be stretched over that table, being raped. Afterward you would be taken to Ozai, who would promptly use such an excuse to have you killed and forgotten before dawn.

She said nothing; it sounded like something Ozai would do.

"I was sent here by a… third party. To ensure you live and you stay safe. If I lay down my weapon, will you trust me enough to follow me to my transportation out of Fire Nation territory and escape into the Earth Kingdom?" he followed through with his words parting his cloak and drawing out a short single bladed sword and slowly laying it on the floor, hilt pointing toward Ursa. Stepping backward he waited for her answer.

The silence stretched as she measured her options. Should she flee now and try to escape again on her own? She knew Ozai likely had this entire district watched; she would fail. But to trust this nameless, faceless assassin and live at the whim of his masters, it sounded better than being hunted and killed at least for the moment, and she could at least try to escape once they were in the earth kingdom. Her decision was made for her as the door swung open and the reedy man who led her into the ship swaggered in reeking of alcohol and a leer on his face. His eyes widened at the sight of the dead bodies around him and he opened his mouth to curse and yell a warning, but all that came out was a bloody gurgle.

Ursa's eyes widened in fear; the assassin had retrieved his blade and traversed the distance between him and the sailor in a second. By the time the man was opening his mouth his throat had already been skewered.

She heard the scrambling outside and thunderous footsteps running away; another man was bellowing at the top of his voice. Her eyes tracked the assassin darting out the door as she felt her body move as if in a thick syrup, and she barely caught sight of the small blade he had thrown. There was a thump and silence but the damage had already been done. Alarm bells were ringing throughout the ship, reverberating with the metal walls and adding to the confused clamor.

The assassin was in front her again, his urgent voice reaching her through the sounds of the alarm.

"Lady Ursa! We must leave!"

Shaken from her stupor, she looked at the faceless figure before her and nodded.

"Lead the way."

"Once you step out of the light and into the shadow, you'll be surprised how much clearer some things become"

He tur

AN: This chapter clocks in at roughly 7075 words, and I've gained a lot of respect for those authors that write 10-20,000 word chapters. Things are going to be moving along slowly but I'm trying to keep it relatively fresh and interesting. The chapters should get longer as I go along, and I'm making decent progress on the second chapter, unfortunately it won't be coming for a while since I have exams over the next two 3 weeks. I'll be posting updates as they come on my livejournal, and maybe a preview or two.

-Jonnoda